Safety Notes and Warning Messages

In 2014, tekom published the tekom guide on 'Safety Notes and Warning Messages'. It comments on many European, international, and US standards, some of which have been revised and contained changed or extended requirements. Worldwide, markets for industrial products are increasingly functioning on the basis of common rules. The new version of EN IEC/IEEE 82079-1 (Edition 2:2020) specifies these rules in still more detail. In 2019 and 2020, new product specific standards have been published that contain requirements regarding content and design of safety-related information. In particular, this holds true of EN ISO 20607 for machinery and EN ISO 20417 for medical products. The practical guide is not intended as a collection of rules, but rather as an aid in decision making. Rather, it shows the scope for design that arises internationally from the current state of legislation and standardization, and is intended as a structured decision-making aid for day-to-day operations. At the same time, technical writers who want clear guidelines are provided with numerous graphic examples and specific recommendations for implementing safety notes and warning messages. Legal and normative requirements for safety notes and warning messages in Europe, the USA, Brazil, Russia and China are covered.