International standards for caveats

[Lippincott, Richard]

Ronald Schwarz asked about standards for caveats.

In addition to Andrew Webber's ISO suggestion, there is also a domestic
solution that has some wide-spread international usage.

The US DoD Milspec MIL-STD-38784 contains a three-level admonition
system:

WARNING: Used when a failure to comply with the following step may
result in death or injury to personnel.

CAUTION: Used when a failure to comply with the following step may
result in damage to equipment (but no risk to personnel). The spec isn't
clear on how this applies to software, but I've personally used the
CAUTION level to warn of situations that may result in a system crash
even if the result wouldn't be any physical damage to the equipment. I
figure the user would like to be advised if an action could result in a
system crash.

NOTE: Used to add useful, but non-essential information. The guideline
here is that the NOTE may make the user's task easier, but the user can
complete the task even if the note is ignored.

The Milspec doesn't include a DANGER level, but I think the usage is a
good idea as a risk level above WARNING. It can differentiate between
situations where there is risk (i.e. failure to set the parking brake
may or may not result in the vehicle rolling), vs. those where there is
a certainty (i.e. standing in the path of the 9 MeV beam WILL kill you).

Rick Lippincott
Technical Writer
American Science & Engineering 
829 Middlesex Turnpike
Billerica, MA  01821-3907
978-262-8807 (direct)
978-495-2335 (mobile)
978-262-8702 (fax) 

This message is intended only for the addressee and may contain information 
that is confidential or privileged. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited 
and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, or the person 
responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you should not read, 
copy , disclose or otherwise use this message, except for the purposes of 
delivery to the addressee. If you have received this e-mail in error please 
delete it and advise AS&E immediately.