3 Ways Signage Can Improve Workplace Safety


We may not often think about it, but signs play an important part in keeping us safe duringSafety Signage our day-to-day lives. They tell us when to stop at an intersection, if there is construction work ahead or when it’s safe to cross the street.Get more news about Protocol Control Signages,you can vist our website!
The same goes for the workplace. Signs play a huge role in telling workers what hazards are present and how they avoid those dangers. To be most effective, these signs must be understandable so that workers will know what to do to stay safe in different work environments.

“Although safety signs and warnings are low on the hierarchy of controls, they are an important part of communicating with employees about the hazards in the workplace,” says Diana Stegall, executive vice president of Rivendell Safety Consulting. “Signs that are well-positioned and take into consideration the hazard ‘audience’ can be very effective in communicating a hazard and serving as a reminder when no one else is around.”
Signage needs to easily and effectively communicate its message to everyone on the job site. Without a clear understanding of the hazards present in different working environments, workers don’t have the knowledge necessary to operate safely.

“The purpose of a safety sign is to give people the information they need to act safely, and to provide that information when and where it’s needed,” says Brian McFadden, compliance specialist at Graphic Products. “If you keep that goal in mind, the regulations and standards for signage become how-to guides and help you make improvements to your workplace communication in the name of safety.”

With regard to regulations, the ANSI/NEMA Z535 series of standards establishes requirements for the design, application and use of safety signage. This includes color coding, sign size, text size and viewing distance. For example, the standard states that yellow be incorporated in signage where minor or moderate hazards are present, orange for more serious hazards and red for the most severe hazards.

Using these as a foundation for safety signage, employees begin to understand and recognize the types of hazards associated with different types of machinery and environments.Along with the Z535 requirements, Stegall stresses that employers, safety professionals and others need to consider the “audience” for each sign, which means thinking about the demographics of their workforce.

It’s important to know that literacy rates vary from worker to worker and that not all workers may speak the same language. Therefore, signs should be easily understood in whatever language(s) are spoken in the workplace.

“When multiple languages are used in a workplace, signs featuring all those languages are a common solution,” says McFadden. “Many signs are available in bilingual formats and custom signs can be created with any selection of languages.”