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Priscilla Sneff
Scott Wright
Rhetorical Analysis of Occupational Safety and Health Administration Guide
25 January 2016

The purpose of this memo is analyze and discuss the effectiveness of the technical
communication in OSHA Best Practices Guide: Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid
Program.
Summary
Overall, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration guide successfully meets four out of
six of Markels characteristics for technical writing. While the guide address the problems its
target audience may encounter and adheres to OSHAs mission and goals, it fails to use design
and imagery to increase readability.
Discussion
Addresses Particular Readers
Although the OSHA guide does not explicitly state its audience early in the guide, their target
becomes clearer. This guide is written to employers who are currently looking to set up a first-aid
training program at the workplace. Throughout the document, it addresses employers on how to
follow OSHA guidelines to set up a training program. The guide explains employers legal
obligation to OSHA by stating that OSHA: requires employers to comply with hazard-specific
safety and health standards.
Helps Readers Solve Problems
This guide sets out to answer a number of questions that employers would encounter while
setting up a program. One of the first problems that the guide aims to solve is what type of
coverage that an employer may need. The guide states: Employers can use the OSHA 300 log,
OSHA 301 forms, their Workers Compensation insurance carrier reports or other records to help
identify the first-aid needs for their businesses. Because an employer may not realize all that
they should be trained in, using these resources could prove very helpful. Since most employers
may not be familiar with the full logistics of implementing a first-aid training program, the guide
clearly and concisely outlines the essentials in starting a program. This outline includes
Teaching Methods, Preparing to Respond to a Health Emergency, Assessing the Scene and
the Victim(s), Responding to Life Threatening Emergencies, and Responding to Non-Life
Threatening Emergencies. Each one of these topics is then split up into smaller sections, which
is easy to navigate and find the information that is useful to the reader. The writers of the guide
are also aware that they are not able to answer every question that could come up, so they
included additional resources that could be used by employers.
Reflects an Organizations Goals and Culture
By looking at the last page in the guide, OSHA clearly states their goals. They state: OSHAs
role is to assure the safety and health of Americas workers by settling and enforcing standards;
providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual
improvement in workplace safety and health. Throughout the guide, OSHA clearly outlines a
strategic plan to ensure the safety and health of American workers by providing an outline for a
first-aid program. In addition, the guide provides different standards that are required to be

upheld by the employer. For example: The OSHA First Aid Standard (29 CFR 1910.151)
requires trained first-aid providers at all workplaces of any size. By explicitly stating the
standard, this guide not only seeks to ensure the safety and health of workers, but also aims to
uphold the standards set by the US Department of Labor.
Produced Collaboratively
Several instances show that OSHA Best Practices Guide: Fundamentals of a Workplace FirstAid Program was produced collaboratively. Because OSHA is under the U.S. Department of
Labor, there would be many different employees that would have to be involved in the creation
of this document. This document provides an array of different information, from statistics on
workplace fatalities to trainee assessment plans. No one single person would be able to do the
amount of research and also have the vast knowledge needed to be able to create this document
in an appropriate amount of time.
Uses Design to Increase Readability
The layout of the different sections of the document are designed to allow for increased
readability. One of the successful designs of the document is the Elements of a First-Aid
Training Program section. This section clearly outlines the different procedures needed in a
training program and is also written in a bulleted format. This format allows the reader to easily
find what section to read without wasting the readers time analyzing useless information. In
addition, the table of contents clearly lays out a map for where a reader can find different
sections of the guide.
Consists of Words and Images
OSHA Best Practices Guide: Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid Program uses both text and
images to convey their goals. While the text is neatly organized, some of the graphical
information is tougher to read and interpret. The graphs on page 6 and 7 are trying to convey too
much statistical data on one graph, which leads to the graphs being tougher to interpret. In
addition, the OSHA guide would have benefitted from using some graphic design throughout to
break up the amount of text. Graphics would be able to convey the same information as text and
would also increase the readability of the document.
Recommendation
The OSHA Best Practices Guide: Fundamentals of a Workplace First-Aid Program provides
crucial information to employers that is formatted in such a way that is generally helpful to the
reader. The use of many different, clearly labeled sections allows employers to clearly find the
information needed to answer the questions they have. But, the guide falls short in using graphics
to make some information easier to read and to comprehend. To improve, OSHA should consider
using a graphic designer to apply more variation to the guide. The guide overall is successful as a
piece of technical writing, as it meets almost all of the characteristics set by Markel.