Workplace safety is one of the most important aspects of any job, and workplace safety signs are an integral part of ensuring the wellbeing of all employees. These signs are effective for safety at work due to their design and their ability to communicate information quickly and accurately. That’s why it’s key to have the right types of workplace safety signs for your business.
The most important workplace safety signs include:
- High danger signs
- Caution signs
- Informative signs
Let’s go over why each of these are important for ensuring workplace safety.
1. High danger signs
A high danger signs is one of the most effective safety signs that you can add to any workplace. These signs, which have a bright red heading that OSHA uses to indicate a high level of danger, tell employees and visitors that an area or activity can be lethal. For example, these signs can be used to indicate a large risk of electrical shock, or that a chemical spill can easily cause a fire.
These signs are not only informative, but also make use of associations the color red has to make their point. Stop signs, traffic lights, and more code red with a meaning to stop and take caution. This design allows employees to quickly see an area is dangerous before they even read the text, which should provide more information about the specific area.
2. Caution signs
Caution signs are much like high danger signs in their design and efficiency, but rather than warning about lethal dangers, they instead warn about the risk of injury. These workplace safety signs are still important, as these injuries are still harmful even without the risk of death. For example, a caution sign might be used in an office environment using a large shredder to warn about the risk of finger mutilation, or in a warehouse environment alerting workers to pay attention to passing forklifts.
These signs are extremely effective, as the yellow color works in a similar manner as the red in danger signs. Employees can quickly see that an activity can cause injury without much analysis.
3. Informative signs
Another less common, but equally important, sign tells employees specific information about the technology being used to encourage safe practices when using the machinery. This is an informative workplace safety sign.
These signs are specific to the workplace, but include those that detail safety regulations for handling pallet jacks, packaging machinery, or any other complex process that requires safety measures. These informative signs, typically found in industrial workplaces, do not have the simple design that OSHA signs have. However, they are informative all the same. Even though they don't convey information visually, they provide detail that danger and caution signs cannot.
Workplace safety signs are essential
Workplace safety signs use quick, visual signals to communicate with employees, which is why they are an important part of ensuring safety in any work environment. OSHA danger and caution signs are extremely effective, as well as detailed industrial safety signs. Make sure you’re using these signs effectively in your workplace.