Philip Ford asked:
Can anyone out there point me towards a list of legal requirements by
country for the necessary languages to be used for
> User manuals?
> Service/installation instructions?
> Product labels?
Thank you.
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That's a pretty big order Phillip, I don't even know where I can get a list of
all countries in the world today, much less their legal requirements, but here
are some guidelines based on the requirements of IEC 950. Of course, not all
countries have adopted IEC 950.
These are general guidelines, use at your own risk.
Safety Instructions
Whenever the information provided deals with user or operator safety, the
information must always be provided in the language of the country where the
equipment will be used.
Servicing Instructions
General information dealing with servicing the equipment by service personnel
can nearly always be provided in English. The requirements assume that service
personnel consist of trained and authorized persons.
Safety related information applicable to the serviceman can also be in English
in most but not all countries. Germany, for instance, has a national deviation
to IEC950 which requires that all safety related information be in German,
including those applicable to the serviceman.
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.
As far as I know, at the present time most 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.
Gabriel Roy
Hughes Network Systems
MD
(39)
Opinions expressed are certainly not those of my employer and mine alone.
