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What are mandatory instructions?
Do mandatory instructions exist, whether these would be mandatory online instructions, mandatory operating instructions or any other kind of working instructions? Actually, they do not. There is nothing ‘mandatory’ about instructions. The term ‘mandatory instruction’ has its merits though. One could interpret mandatory instructions as instructions that should meet certain criteria.
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European directives and… manuals
Almost all countries in Europe are member of the European Union, or are somehow affiliated to the EU. This has important consequences for setting up any manual. In the EU, the European directives on the safe use of a product also have something to say on the requirements for the accompanying manual. As such, a company can be held accountable if a manual is not in compliance with the relevant European directive.
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NEN 5509
As part of Manualise, over the past few years I have participated in the standards committee for revision of NEN5509 – User Manuals. The new draft of the standard was recently published. For more info see this press release. You can view the draft via this link. You can comment on it until 15 October via this link. After this time the committee will schedule a meeting to discuss all the comments.
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American standards regarding instructions for use
To provide CE marking, a manufacturer can use European (harmonised) standards to comply with the CE-directives. When exporting to the US, certification companies like UL apply their own standards. How do you deal with the American market when it comes to your instructions for use?
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The intended use
You can read it in almost every manual: a description of the intended use of the product or the machine. It is a description that every technical writer must treat very carefully, because it sets the liability of a manufacturer and affects the further contents of the manual. We will elaborate this in this blog.
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