I have one comment to make regarding your "B" scenario that English only is
acceptable for service manuals. If you are applying for a German safety
mark (Bauart or GS), the German deviations to IEC 950 apply, which means
that instructions relating to safety must be translated into German even for
the service manual.
Patty Elliot
TUV Rheinland of N.A.
11995 El Camino Real, Suite 101
San Diego, CA 92130
(619) 792-2770
ell...@tuv.com
At 11:55 AM 9/16/96 EDT, Gabriel Roy/HNS wrote:
>I have two questions for the group to consider, concerning the languages
which
>are to be provided in manuals.
>
>My understanding of IEC 950 paragraph 1.7.14 of the languages required in
>manuals is as follows:
>
>A - Safety Instructions
>Whenever the information provided deals with safety, the information must
>always be provided in the language of the country where the equipment will be
>used.
>
>B - Servicing Instructions
>Information dealing with servicing the equipment by service personnel can
>always be provided in English. The requirements assume that service personnel
>consist of trained and authorized persons.
>
>C - User Instructions
>Germany demands that user instructions be provided in German. Their reasoning
>is that the user instructions inform the user how the equipment is to be
>operated properly, therefore they are necessary to prevent improper operation.
>Mexico requires that user instructions be provided in Spanish.
>At the present time, all other countries accept user instructions in English,
>however some are considering following Germanys lead. The recommendations from
>test labs is that user manuals for consumer products be provided in at least
>English, French, German, and Spanish.
>
>My questions are:
>
>1) What are the group's comments on the above.
>
>2) I have a manual intended for a serviceman. Using "B" above, it can be in
>English only.
>In the manual there are several safety cautionary statements. They will all be
>extracted from various sections of the manual and will be placed in a single
>separate section located at the front of the manual, and each will be
>translated into the language of the country where the equipment is destined.
>This will provide compliance with "A".
>We would also like to include the safety cautionary statements in the body of
>the manual, at the appropriate locations, to provide continuity when the
>serviceman is reading/following the manual. We feel that there is no need to
>also provide a translation in the body of the manual since there is already
one
>provided at the beginning of the manual. The reasoning is twofold: (1) since
>English is accepted as the language for the serviceman ("B" above), the
>serviceman is presumed to know how to read English, and (2) the safety
>cautionary statement appears in his native language in the separate section at
>the beginning of the manual.
>
>Comments will be appreciated.
>
>Gabriel Roy
>Hughes Network Systems
>MD
>The opinions expressed are mine and do not necessarily reflect corporate.
>
>
