ISO/IEC Guide 37:2012, “Instructions for use of products by consumers,” has just been released and is available in both paper and pdf format at Document Center Inc. This 3rd Edition for the joint ISO/IEC Guide establishes principles and gives recommendations on the design and formulation of instructions for use of products by consumers. It cancels and replaces the second edition (ISO/IEC Guide 37:1995), which has been technically revised.
These types of instructions should help people use products and product-related services in a correct and safe manner. They may be found in a number of different formats:
— texts,
— words,
— graphical symbols,
— diagrams,
— illustrations, and/or
— audible, visible or tactile information.
These instructions can be on the product itself or its packaging, or in accompanying materials, like leaflets, manuals, media and websites.
A number of things have occurred since the last publication of the Guide in 1995:
a) IEC 82079-1, “Preparation of instructions for use – Structuring, content and presentation – Part 1: General principles and detailed requirements,” has been published. Even with an International Standard, the effectiveness of the information supplied with a product (unlike safety requirements) has rarely been subjected to independent verification or certification.
b) There has been a substantial increase in cross-border movement of both fully-packaged products and of consumers. This means that manufacturers can’t assume every consumer can read the official language of the country where the product itself was offered for sale.
c) The committee has also recognized that for many products there will be a proportion of older consumers and consumers with disabilities who can use the product safely and independently when given adequate information, but who are unable to gain access to this information in the usual way — most often because the size of print on the product is too small.
This means that ISO/IEC Guide 37 3rd Edition has been revised to take into account both the above developments and the many research studies into the effectiveness of product instructions and warning labels.
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