Safety Warnings in Tractor Operation Manuals, 1920–1980: Manuals and Warnings Don't Always Work

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2010

Safety Warnings in Tractor Operation Manuals, 1920–1980: Manuals and Warnings Don't Always Work

Elizabeth Tebeaux Mitchell Institute

Abstract

This article studies the history of one of the most critical, unresolved problems in mechanized agriculture: Tractor operators do not read the operation manuals, particularly the safety warnings. The result: sustained death and injury of these operators for well over a century. The article tracks the emergence of warnings in tractor operator manuals found in the archives of the University of Nebraska Tractor Test Museum (1919–2007), describes efforts of manufacturers during this time to alert operators to dangers associated with tractors, and concludes with a summary of current research on tractor safety and the problem that remains unresolved: how to change the culture of farmers who use these implements, critical to agriculture production, to encourage them to read and follow safety practices.

Journal: Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published: 2010-01-01
DOI: 10.2190/tw.40.1.b
Open Access: Closed
Topics: multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (4)

Digmayer et al. (2022)

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Moran et al. (2012)

A Bibliography of Works Published in the History of Professional Communication …

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Tebeaux (2011)

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Cites in this index (4)

Tebeaux (2008)

Technical Writing in English Renaissance Shipwrightery: Breaching the Shoals of…

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Tebeaux (2004)

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Journal of Business and Technical Communication
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Visual Texts: Format and the Evolution of English Accounting Texts, 1100–1700

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
TEBEAUX (1992)

Renaissance Epistolography and the Origins of Business Correspondence, 1568-1640

Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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