OSHA Guide Rhetorical Analysis - Assignment Example

OSHA Guide Rhetorical Analysis To: From: Subject: OSHA Guide: Rhetorical Analysis Date: January 27, 2015 Purpose This memo critically assesses the OSHA guide of the best practices necessary to establish a first aid program in the workplace. The structure of the document reflects professionalism in technical communication from a state organization. However, some minor improvements are needed to make the document effectively pass its message to the audience. This memo provides the strengths of the document that make it professional and effective in technical communication. Recommendations for necessary improvement actions to be taken in order to enhance the communicability of the document are also given. Summary The guide is a professional document that employs technical standards to pass its message. The document addresses the audience in a precise manner that ensures everything is made clear and straightforward from the beginning. The audience is gradually introduced to the problems and challenges encountered in the workplace, workplace safety measures and what is being done to solve the problems. The document opens in a manner that immediately introduces the audience to the main aims and objectives of the document. It is clear that any employee wants a workplace that is safe and with no technical challenges. Making this the core objective of the document from the beginning makes it draw more attention from the reader. Information presented in the document is precise and to the point. Diagrams and charts have been used to summarize important details to enhance faster comprehension by the audience. Similarly, important points are either bold or written in bullet points. This enhances the readability and comprehensiveness of the document and makes things clear and precise for easier comprehension. A quick scan of the document can be done by following the table of contents and the points emphasized in the document. This mode of presentation is beneficial both to the author and the audience. On the part of the author, the details required to complete the document are minimized. The format also favors the audience because scanning of the document can be easily done to capture the content, goal, and purpose of the guide. Discussion The guide presents the problem to the audience in a concise manner by use of charts and diagrams. The charts are colored and magnified in order to emphasize their relevance and significance to the reader. Information presented in the charts helps to emphasize the fact that workplace injuries are maximized and, therefore, this is a problem in the workplace. It creates the need for quick action and solutions on how to minimize workplace injuries by improving safety measures. The document is also presented in a manner that gives more suggestive measures than the problem measures. The problem has already been presented, but suggestive measures are more important to offer recommendations and solution to the safety challenges in the workplace. The language used in the document demonstrates its focus on finding solutions. For instance, “it is suggested that…” has been used severally in the document. This implies that not much has been done for workplace safety improvement, yet there are many solutions that can be taken. The suggestive language also makes the audience reflect and critically think about the suggested measures. The document seems to address a professional audience comprising of employees and other people in the workplace. The assumption is that the employees are educated and have studied safety measures in the past. The document only gives a hint of the safety challenges in the workplace and makes use of a suggestive language that elicits creative and critical thinking among the audience in order to conclusively find the solutions. The document seems to be discriminatively isolating its audience. One part of the audience is the employees who are informed about the importance of safety measures in the workplace. They are the people who directly engage in activities that pose safety risks and, hence, need to be guided on best practices. On the second part of the audience is the management personnel. The management is addressed with a suggestive language that explains what should be done so as to achieve workplace safety. The management is presented with suggested safety programs, OSHA contacts, and necessary regulatory codes. Since the major part of the document tends to address what can be done or needs to be done, corporate management is the major audience and not the employees. Being a technical document, it should address employees in the major section, then focus on what needs to be done towards the end. Even if the actions suggested are taken without involving the employees, implementation would not be possible. The opening paragraph should be more concise and straight to the point. The audience should be approached with the relevance of the first aid program in the workplace and how the lack of such a program endangers safety of employees. This would make the document captivating and interesting to the reader. The mode of presentation elicits criticality of thought from the beginning and draws the attention of both the technical staff and the management staff of particular organizations. The document also refers to what should be done but does not offer real examples of when and where the suggested solutions have been applied. In order to make the document readable and make it less monotonous, it is important that the solutions are suggested with specific examples of organizations where they have been applied and have worked as expected. Another weakness of the document is the organization in which information is presented. Although bold words and bullet points have been used to emphasize important points, the emphasis seems exaggerated. The use of too much bullet points makes the document monotonous and loses the meaning of emphasis. The reader may not easily identify what is most important from what is of less importance in the documents. Since suggestions can be as many as possible depending on the viewpoint of the author, only the problems require much emphasis since they do not depend on author’s opinion and are indubitable facts. Suggestions The document could improve its readability and relevance to the audience by following the suggested measures: Concisely addressing the current problems and potential problems with the current workplace scenario. Emphasis on only what is important Use of more charts, graphs and diagrams to summarize data for quicker readability and comprehension. Nevertheless, the document is an effective and professional way of presenting information to a skilled audience. Read More