Who reads procedures & other safety documents?

I think there is a rule of thumb that says 20% people will never read anything you give them. If we follow that analogy on, of the 80% who read the first page, 20% are unlikely to turn the page. See how this pans out below

Page 1 80%
Page 2 64%
Page 3 51%
Page 4 41%
Page 5 33%
Page 6 26%
Page 7 21%
Page 8 17%
Page 9 13%
Page 10 11%

So if the document you give them is more than 3 pages long, less than 50% are likely to make it to the end.

This is not based on any studies or science, but I think is not a bad representation of reality. It highlights that we need to address the fact that 20% will read nothing. But if we make sure all the most important information is in the first page or two, at least the majority will read it.

Also, this shows that about 10% of people will read everything. If these are the key influencer's for the rest of the population this can be pretty significant.

Andy Brazier