Safetysignsandcolors

Safetysigns
asignprovidinginformationorins truc tionabouts afety orhealthatwork by means ofa
signboard,ac olor,anilluminatedsignorac ous tics ignal,av erbalc ommunic ationorhand
signal.

Safetyboards
asignwhichprovides informationorinstruc tions by acombinationofs hape,c olouranda
symbolorpictogramwhic his renderedv is ibleby lightingofsufficientintens ity .

Safetycolors
acolourtowhichaspec ific meaningis as s igned(egy ellowmeans bec arefulortak e
precautions )

Safetysignsareusedto:
drawattentiontohealthands afetyhaz ards
pointouthazardsthatmaynotbeobv ious
providegeneralinformationanddirec tions
remindemployees wherepers onalprotec tive
equipmentmustbeworn
s howwhereemergenc yequipmentis loc ated
indic atewherecertainactions areprohibited

SignCategories
Asshowninthetablebelow,therearethreebasic s igncategories us edinthework place:
regulatory
warning
information
Eachcategory isdis tinguishedby its s hape.Thes ec ategories arediv idedintos ubc ategories
thatc anberecogniz edby theircolor.

SignTypes
Oneofthreesigntypess houldbeus edtoc ommunic ateamess age:
Sy mbols ign
Sy mbols ignwithtex t
Texts ign

Uses ymbolsthatares impleandeasy tolearnandrec ogniz e.Inc ludes implewording(text)to

helpexplainthemeaningofthesy mbolortoprov idemoreinformation.Tex ts ignss houldonly
beusedwhennoappropriatesy mbolsex is t.

SafetySignandColorUse
Afterdeterminingy ourneeds ,workwithy ourhealthands afety repres entativ eorc ommitteeto
setstandardsfors igns andcolorstous ethroughoutthework plac e.
Ensurethes ignsandc olors areusedcons is tently .Res earc hs howsthatc ompanies thathave
implementedauniformsignandc olors y stemtomakehaz ardsmorev is ibleandeas y to
identifyhaves uc ces s fully loweredtheirinjury frequenc y rates .Work ers k nowthats ignsand

colours meanthes amethingev enwhenthey work indifferentdepartments orplantlocations.

Italsoenables employ ees toquic k lylocatefirs taid,firefightingandotheremergenc y
equipment.
Thes ignsandc olors iny ourwork plac es houldprov ideenoughinformationforpersonsto
protecttheirhealthandsafety.Signs ,espec iallythos ethatindic atehaz ards ,s hould:
attractapers ons attention
c learly identify thenatureofthehaz ard
s pec ifytheimmediateac tionrequired
bepos tedinaplacethatprovidesenoughtimeforapers ontoreadthes ignandact
accordingly
beeas ilyrecognizedandunderstoodbyallemploy ees
reflec ttheneedsofthos ewhohav ev is uallimitations orwhodonots peak Englis h
bes izedorplac edac c ordingtotheimportanceofthemes s age

PostingSigns
Signs shouldbec learly vis ible,positionedinthelineofs ight,andfreefromany
obstructionsorc lutter.
Keeps ignswelllighted.Obs ervers s houldbeabletoreadas igneas ily andrec ognize
itss afety color.Lightingshouldals obes uffic ienttomak eany haz ardc learly visible.
Postthesignwithinanappropriatedis tanc efromthehaz arditis pointingout.An
observermus thav eenoughtimetos eeandreadthes ignanddowhatev eris necessary
tokeeps afe.
Ingeneral,signs s houldbedis play edalone.Whens igns mus tbegroupedtogether,
plac etheminanappropriateorder.Us enomorethanthrees y mbols inthes ame
location.
Us enomorethanthreesy mbolsinthes ameloc ation.
Ensurethatdirectionals igns arevisiblefromalldirec tions .Inc ludearrowsonexitsigns
whereverthedirec tionis notobv ious .Direc tionals igns s houldbepos tedatac onsistent
heightthroughoutthework plac e.They s houldals obepos tedatappropriateloc ationsor
decisionpoints s othattheroutetotak eis always clear
Us ingEasytoReadandEasy toUnders tandSigns
Helpemployees andwork plac ev is itors unders tandsignsquic k ly by us ingclear
languageands y mbols thanc anbelearnedandrec ogniz edeasily .
Keeps ymbolsass impleasposs ibleeliminatedetails thatdontmakethemes s age
c learer.
Av oidusings igns thatc ontainonly tex tmes s ages .

Ac ombinationoftex tands y mbolsis generally themos teffectiv e.Cons idermultilingual

s ignsify ouhaveemploy ees whodonots peak Englis h.