Improving Instructional Material —
Using the ANSI Z535.6 Standard
by James Rhoads, CPCU, CSP, ALCM, CPSI

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

— Samuel L. Clemens

Since 1991, product manufacturers have had clear guidance from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), by way of the Z535 series, on the design of warning and safety labels. This has led to uniformity in safety labeling and guidance for the courts when these standards were not followed and manufacturers did not comply with their “duty to warn” obligations.

The same, however, has not been true for instruction manuals and other “collateral material,” which is the printed information that accompanies a product in all its forms. As a result, product safety manuals have varied dramatically from company to company, in both presentation and organization. In past years, some well-intentioned manufacturers tried to adapt the warning label guidance into their instructional material, with mixed results — the Z535.4 standard was not meant for materials that could vary significantly in content and length. Today’s instructional manuals can come in the form of a booklet, a single sheet of paper, or a compact disc or DVD.

Additionally, there was a need to establish consistency with the wording and approach of the other Z535 standards. In response, ANSI adopted a standard in 2006, designated ANSI Z535.6, which gives guidance and substance to writers of product safety and instruction manuals.

The New Standard for Manuals
ANSI Z535.6 distinguishes labels from collateral materials — manuals, pamphlets and booklets, single sheets of paper, and electronic documents and media. It also differentiates messages involving personal safety from those that address only property damage, a distinction that was made in the original ANSI Z535.4 standards on warning labels.

Additionally, ANSI Z535.6 incorporates guidelines for the use of safety alert symbols and signal words, consistent with those for labeling. Safety alert symbols and signal words are intended to call attention to a safety message or messages, as well as to designate a degree or level of hazard seriousness. The signal words established in the earlier Z535 standards are:

• DANGER — Imminently hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, will result in death or serious injury.

• WARNING — A potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury.

• CAUTION — Potentially hazardous situation, which, if not avoided, may result in minor or moderate injury.

• NOTICE — Situations not related to personnel injury; also used for situations of potential property damage.
  

NOTICE is the preferred signal word to address practices not related to personal injury. Safety alert symbols are not to be used with this signal word. As an alternative, the word CAUTION, without the safety alert symbol, may be used to indicate a message not related to personal injury.

Where a safety alert symbol is used, signal words or pictorials may be used to clarify, supplement or substitute for a portion of all or part of a safety message. The message the reader gets should describe the type of hazard, potential consequences of the hazard and avoidance actions to be taken.

ANSI Z535.6 organizes the safety messages that are typically found in collateral materials into four categories, and then provides guidelines for the purpose, content, format and location of each.

These four types of messages are as follows:

• Supplemental Directives. They direct users to other pertinent safety information and make them aware of the document’s safety-related contents and their importance — for example, “Read all instructions before use to avoid injury.” Recommended formats use the safety alert symbol and, where appropriate, assign signal words.
  

• Grouped Safety Messages. They are presented in their own separate section or in a separate document, are clearly labeled as “Safety Information” or “Safety Manual,” and are assembled in one area. They do not require use of signal words and the safety alert symbols to distinguish them from other information.
  

• Section Safety Messages. They apply to an entire section of a document. They are typically located at the beginning of a section and accompanied by a safety alert symbol or a signal word panel to provide the user with the necessary safety information. At the same time, with the information segregated from the main body of text, users can more easily read and understand the instructions or procedures. Also, needless repetition is avoided.
  

• Embedded Safety Messages. They are integrated into the main body of text along with nonsafety information. The new standard gives companies the flexibility to use signal words, the safety alert symbol and consistently applied font variations (or no special formatting at all if the content and context of the message clearly distinguishes safety information).
  

Property damage messages do not have the same requirements as do safety messages and do not have a specific format mandated. There are, however, restrictions on what safety message formats may be used with property damage messages. For example, when a signal word is used for property damage only, the message NOTICE may be used. Alternatively, CAUTION, without the safety alert symbol, may also be used. Property damage messages must be clearly distinguished from safety messages by the use of meaningful headlines, subheadings or other distinguishing features.