Technical Writers and Liability - Don't Let Your Work be Your Downfall - Part 1 - Understanding Your Liability
As more and more people turn to technical communication as a career, particularly freelance, it becomes increasingly important to ask: do these technical writers (or technical communicators) appreciate the liabilities their work can leave them with? It's an increasing problem, with technical writing being wrongly viewed by many as an easy way of earning a buck, usually from home, and usually while some fiction novel is being written on the side.
Look at what many technical writers produce. Much of the output relates to technical descriptions of equipment, systems, software or components; user instructions, maintenance procedures and technical information designed to be used and applied by its readers. In many cases it can be safety related, even if this is not immediately apparent to the writer or even the reader.
Contrast this with the output of a creative writer, whose text is produced for enjoyment and is generally seen as fictional. The reading of a fiction novel will rarely, if ever, result in physical damage to an object or worse, the injury or death of a person. The technical writer's user manual or maintenance instructions, however, may lead its reader into hazardous situations with the potential for physical harm or financial loss, since the reader is usually also a user of the system or equipment being described.
To illustrate the point, if you have written a procedure for maintenance of a car braking system and a mechanic uses your instructions to service the brakes of a car, the mechanic is reliant upon the accuracy of that information. Yes, there is the argument that says the mechanic should be a competent person to do this kind of work, but information can still be required beyond basic or generic training. Should there be an accident that could be proved to be as a result of incorrect or ambiguous instructions, you, as the author or publisher of the information, may be liable to legal action, in extreme cases. There would obviously need to be proof that the mechanic used the correct, up to date instructions for the particular car and braking system and that the instructions were followed to the letter, but nonetheless, you, as the technical writer, could easily come under unwelcome scrutiny.
In general, as a technical writer you will be asked to write material that will remain the intellectual property of whoever has commissioned it. In some respects this will provide a protection to you although it is imperative that you understand what you have agreed with your customer regarding copyright, intellectual property rights, technical responsibility and product liabilities.
Obviously the level of any liability you expose yourself to is dependent upon the type of information being written. Writing instructions on how to operate a digital camera, will clearly not give you the same liability or risk as writing maintenance procedures for a train signalling system for example. You should always, give consideration to what level of risk and potential liability you are running when accepting a technical writing task, especially as a freelancer. Being part of a much larger team of tech writers within an engineering or technically based organisation will not generally give you the same level of personal exposure, due to the engineering or technical governance and regulation operated by the company and the fact that the responsibility for the correctness of the information will probably lie jointly with you as the individual and the corporate organisation.
Take a look at Technical Writers and Liability - Don't Let Your Work be Your Downfall - Part 2 - Limiting your Liability, for tips on how to minimise or limit your own risk as a technical writer.