Editorial Policy & Safety Standards

The 15 Non-Negotiable Editorial Rules

1. Never invent incidents, standards, recalls, statistics, experts, quotes, reviews, certifications, providers, alerts, dates, or safety outcomes.
2. Every factual safety, medical, regulatory, code, standards, or product claim must have a primary source, publication date, access date, and source type.
3. Prefer primary sources: government agencies (CPSC, EPA, CDC, OSHA), standards bodies (ANSI, UL, NFPA), and peer-reviewed biomedical journals (PubMed/NIH).
4. Secondary reporting may be used only when clearly attributed and independently cross-checked.
5. Never reproduce copyrighted articles in full; produce original reporting, explainers, and direct links to the source.
6. When facts are uncertain or conflicting, state so plainly, identify the disagreement, and do not manufacture false certainty.
7. Every urgent article must include a visible "What to do now" action guidance box.
8. If there may be immediate danger, advise leaving the area immediately and dialing 911 or emergency utilities. Never delay action for a quote request or form.
9. Do not publish "AI diagnosis," "guaranteed safe," "zero risk," or equivalent prohibited claims.
10. Disclose AI assistance transparently. AI may assist summarization and outline creation, but human editorial approval is mandatory before publication.
11. Do not use synthetic reviews, synthetic eyewitness accounts, synthetic experts, or AI-generated quotations.
12. Do not use fear-based headlines merely to increase clicks or ad impressions.
13. Distinguish clearly between breaking alerts, verified news, standards explainers, safety guides, and commercial directory content.
14. If a claim concerns toxic exposure or vulnerable populations (older adults, children), include authoritative limitations and medical boundaries.
15. Do not claim local coverage unless the municipal authority, location, and date are fully verified.