Assess Hazards—More Than Once
 
One of the most important things you can do to improve your product manuals and warnings is continuing hazard analysis.  Hazard analysis should begin at the design stage—remember, if you can design a hazard out of the product, you don’t need to worry about warnings.  But it should not stop there.  At every phase of product development, keep evaluating the remaining hazards and deciding how best to handle them.  Even after the product is out the door and in the hands of users, incorporate their feedback in continual hazard analysis and product improvement.  An end user may alert you to a hazard you had overlooked or underestimated because of your familiarity with the product.  
 
As you do your continuing hazard analysis, be sure to involve as many members of the product team as possible—design engineers, production specialists, technical writers, marketing professionals, and so on.  The more diversity of expertise and experience, the better.  Each person will bring a different perspective to the process, and increase the likelihood that both the hazard analysis and the proposed responses will be as comprehensive as possible.