When technicians use computer programs: approaches to procedure writing

Conventional guidelines for maintenance procedures in the nuclear power industry need to be revised or expanded to address those situations that require the technician to interface with a computer program. As software is being used more frequently to accomplish such tasks as testing and data analysis, procedure writers find that current writer´s guide to be too restrictive or not applicable to computer interface procedures. Writers must write what is in reality a software user manual using a conventional prose procedure. Methods are recommended so that a paper-based procedure clearly describes how to use a software program to accomplish a procedural task. It is suggested that writer´s guides for maintenance procedures permit the use of these methods.<>