WARNINGS, Cautions, and Notes

1
WARNINGS, Cautions, and Notes

• Functions and presentations

2
Warning Highest level

• Alerts users to potential hazards that may result
  in death or injury to workers or public
• Warnings involve an actual step that should or
  should not be taken.

3
Two-part structures

• WARNING Do not touch the bus bars and circuit
  boards inside the battery charger access doors.
  The bars and boards present an electrocution
  hazard.
• Warnings and Cautions are in two parts
• The step not to do
• The consequences of ignoring the above

4
Caution Medium level

• Alerts users to potential hazards that may damage
  machinery or equipment also alerts users to
  actions that may jeopardize the process
• Do not sand indoors. The sanding dust will coat
  curtains and rugs with a fine silt.

5
Avoid passive voice in warnings and cautions

• WARNING Bus bars and circuit boards inside the
  battery charger access doors may be energized,
  presenting an electrocution hazard.
• Is the user supposed to energize the bus bar or
  circuit board?

6
Active voice for warnings and cautions

• WARNING Do not touch the bus bars and circuit
  boards inside the battery charger access doors.
  The bars and boards present an electrocution
  hazard.

7
Notes Lowest level

• Calls attention to important supplemental
  information that may enhance users understanding
  and performance of the procedure.
• If you have no turpentine, you may also use other
  cleaning fluids such as alcohol or benzene.
  Turpentine, though, is most effective.

8
Formatting

• Visually format warnings and cautions so that
  they are clearly distinct from instructions and
  from each other.
• WARNING
• Caution

9
Visually hierarchize warnings, cautions, and notes

• Organize the visual hierarchy of warnings,
  cautions, and notes so that
• WARNINGS are the most visually distinct,
• cautions less visually distinct than warnings,
  and
• notes less visually distinct than cautions.
• All three though should be visually distinct from
  the stages and steps of the procedure.

10
One hazard per warning or caution

• Identify only a single hazard and the
  consequences of that hazard for each warning and
  caution.

11
Action ? Warning/Caution!

• Actions to be performed MUST be set up as steps,
  not placed within cautions or warnings
• Do not include actions in warnings and cautions

12
Caution/Warnings BEFORE Related Steps

• (and finally)
• Integrate warnings and cautions into the flow of
  the procedures (dont lump them together into a
  separate side or intro section)