Penn State University English 202C

Rhetorical Analysis Memo

To: Professor Peacock
From: Thomas Mordecki
Subject: OSHA guide evaluation and analysis
Date: January 28, 2015
The main objective of this memo is to evaluate the OSHA guide of best practices for
fundamentals of a workplace first- aid program as a piece of technical communication literature.
Even though this guide has achieved a high professional standard, which is expected by technical
communication within the government, some minor organizational aspects of it do not meet this
high standard. Within the paragraphs below I analyze exactly how the OSHA guide has met
these high standards as well some recommendations that could improve the quality of the guide.

Summary of the OSHA guide

This guide has a very clear message and has portrayed it to the guides intended audience.
OSHAs guide has brought forth a very interesting problem to a very specific audience and has
explained this problem in a reasonable manner. The author of this guide made it so that the
reader of the guide reads the problems associated with workplace safety then offers potential
solutions to these presented problems.
In the very first paragraph, the reader can find the purpose of the guide as well as whom the
guide is meant for. In the second sentence, the guide states, The guide is advisory in nature,
informational in content, and is intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful
workplace (OSHA, pg. 2). From this sentence we see that the purpose of this guide is to help
companies provide a safe workplace. It also presents the managers as being the targeted
audience.
Through the use of charts and bullet points, the reader can easily understand this guide. The
guide is easy to understand because there are bulleted sections. Having a table of contents also
improves the guide. It lets the reader find the section of the guide that they are looking for
without any problem. Within these sections, bullet points offer an easy way for the reader to
understand how broad the program needs to be. The use of dark red bullet points is also a good
thing about this guide. These red bullet points provide the reader with the feeling that they need
these in their first-aid program. They also show an elevated level of importance to the managers
and workers.

Solutions to Given Problems

Through the use of charts, this guide provides excellent examples of how problems are presented
to the reader. These charts take up two pages of the guide, which stress that they are important to
the reader. Readers of this guide will learn that there are tons of workplace injuries, which
sometimes come from unexpected departments. This is all portrayed through the charts found
within the guide.

Throughout the guide the author uses persuasive language. This implies that the reader should
consider the information to help provide a safer workplace. The guide only suggests that to have
a safe workplace and to decrease fatalities, you need certain aspects in the first-aid program.
The layout of this guide provides an easy and logical pathway that the reader can follow. This
pathway is created by the charts and bullet points.

Analysis of the Targeted Audience

The organization of this guide is very professional and is as the employer should expect.
Throughout the guide we can see that managers are the intended audience because of the
material that is presented. If the guide was to focus on the importance of safety in the workplace,
general employees would be the intended audience. Since this guide focuses more on the
implementation of programs and regulatory codes, managers are the primary audience. This is
because they are the ones who can control these programs.
The guide mentions workplace hazards by profession which also places more relevance on
certain audiences, such as people who have dangerous professions and those who are unaware of
dangers in their workplace. In the introduction section of the guide, the rest of the guide is
described. This allows managers to easily find the information they want. OSHA mentions that
this guide is to advise managers on how to set up effective workplace first-aid programs.
In OSHAs guide, they provide a clear way to set up first-aid programs and connect their
obligations with the job of managers. Some different steps can be taken to help this guide better
assist the understanding of the managers to the obligations set by OSHA.

Criticisms
Throughout the guide, bullet points are used. If used moderately, bullet points can be useful to
convey information to the reader. However, excessive use can be dull. The extensive use can
cause readers to lose interest in the rest of the guide. The use of subsections could eliminate the
bullet points and help retain the attention of the reader.
Since the introduction section goes over first-aid programs, the need for these programs should
be presented before this section. The relevance of first-aid programs needs to be addressed prior
to the introduction. By establishing the need for these programs prior to the introduction,
managers will see the importance of them. This could convince them to start up programs that
will improve safety in their companies.

Conclusion
The guide is presented in a very professional manner with some minor corrections that can be
made to make the guide more appealing to the reader. With these improvements it would be
considered a great piece of technical writing.