OSHA Guidelines for Handling of Humorous Materials
1. All posts containing humorous, sarcastic, parodical, and/or
satirical passages, or any other post not intended to be taken
seriously must be
labeled prominently in the header as follows:
a. The Subject header must contain at some point, the string
"HA!".
b. The Keywords line shall contain a summary of the hazard
levels present in the post, ranked on a scale of 0-4 in the
following categories, in the order: humor, sarcasm, satire:
0 -- No hazard
1 -- Slight hazard
2 -- Moderate hazard
3 -- Extreme hazard
4 -- Critical hazard
c. The Summary line shall contain any specific notices of
hazard as required under local and state laws.
d. In a satirical or parodical post, a disclaimer should be
present in the header to avoid confusion.
2. All humorous, sarcastic, parodical, or satirical remarks within
the body of a post must be clearly labeled as follows:
a. Preceded by a clearly-worded warning ten (10) lines in
advance.
b. Preceded by a clearly-worded warning one (1) line in
advance.
c. Preceded immediately by not less than three (3) smileys of
a commonly acceptable variety compliant with Smiley Code paragraph
4, subparagraph b.
d. Followed immediately by not less than three (3) smileys of
a commonly acceptable variety compliant with Smiley Code paragraph
4, subparagraph b.
3. Hazards shall be defined as follows:
a. No hazard:
Found to contain no more than 1.5 times background
contamination levels in no less than two (2) independent tests.
b. Slight hazard:
Contamination exists in amounts greater than 1.5 times
background levels, yet have been deemed insufficient in no less than
two (2) independent tests to be capable of bodily harm during casual
exposure.
c. Moderate hazard:
Significant risk of bodily harm due to prolonged and/or
excessive exposure and/or slight risk of bodily harm due to casual
exposure, as determined in no less than two (2) independent tests.
d. Extreme hazard:
Significant risk of bodily harm due to casual exposure, as
determined in no less than two (2) independent tests.
e. Critical hazard:
Significant risk of bodily harm due to ANY exposure not
compliant with any and all codes pertaining to the handling of
hazardous materials.
4. Those posts containing materials deemed critical hazards must not
be handled except by trained personnel in compliance with any and
all codes pertaining to the handling of hazardous materials.