Communicating technical information involves making ethical decisions and responsible choices. You can better prepare yourself for dealing with ethical issues if you:
- Understand that ethical considerations usually transcend legal codes and involve making decisions based on personal codes of behavior.
- Consider the four dimensions of social responsibility---economic, legal, ethical, and voluntary---that influence the ethical decision-making process.
- Anticipate the types of ethical issues---conflict of interest, trustworthiness, communications, and organizational relationships---you'll likely face in the workplace.
- Evaluate both ethically relative and absolute positions.
- Consider following ethical guidelines that include refusing to hide information, refusing to exaggerate data or claims, providing a clear understanding of what the information means, and respecting copyrights.
- Familiarize yourself with international codes of business ethics.
As our society becomes increasingly litigious, technical communicators become more and more vulnerable to "information liability." To protect yourself from legal action you need to:
- Understand the types of product liability law---negligence, breach of warranty, and strict liability in tort---that can be brought against technical communicators, and how each type influences the task of writing.
- Realize the role that language can play in the marketing of goods and services as a basis for holding the company---and the writer---liable.
- Recognize the importance of writing and designing clear hazard messages to prevent liability actions.
- Understand the role that language in employee handbooks, employment letters, and performance evaluations can play in hiring and wrongful discharge cases.
- Learn about the three categories of intellectual property law---patents, trademarks, and copyrights---and the issues surrounding them, particularly with regard to online media.
When preparing documents for use in other cultures, gain an understanding of the laws governing communication in those cultures by researching the product liability law in the target culture and collecting some sample cases where communication has been found liable.
