While outside regulators may examine the manual to ensure all appropriate regulations are covered, they will not read it day-in and day-out as will the employees who must follow the practices it contains. The manual should be written so they can easily understand and follow it.


Use short sentences and short paragraphs with simple words.
Write in the active voice.
Avoid jargon. Use any necessary technical terms correctly, defining them in context where possible, and with simple, clear definitions otherwise.
Explain acronyms. You can either have an introductory section listing all acronyms with their definitions, or introduce them in the text with the full term followed by its acronym in parentheses and using the acronym thereafter.
Explain symbols. As with acronyms, you can have an introductory section or explain the symbols as they appear throughout the manual.
 The most critical safety issues should serve as the manual's focus. Preliminary issues should be included, presented prior to the main issues, while related issues that are not prerequisites should be covered after the main issues.



Use blocks of text to present general information and explanations.
Use bulleted lists to present information that can be broken into individual points.
Use numbered lists for step-by-step procedures, with the steps in the order they should be followed.
 The layout should help the reader focus on the most important concepts and should be consistent throughout the manual.


Provide sufficient margins and white space between text blocks.
Use headings and subheadings to introduce topics, identify subtopics, and group text blocks.
Include a table of contents and index.
Place drawings and the text that relates to them on the same page when possible.
Use a readable font style and point size. For printed body text, 10- to 12-point size is best, with a somewhat larger point size for headings. Subheadings can be the same point size as the body text, but set off in boldface, italics, or both.
Use black text on a white paper for the best contrast between text and background. Shaded text boxes may be appropriate for callouts and sidebars as long as there is still sufficient contrast between the text and background.
Write for the people who will read the safety manual regularly.
Prioritize the issues the manual should cover.
Format the text according to the type of information presented.
Lay out the manual to be easily read and understood.
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