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Put More Thought Into Your Workplace Safety Signs and Protect Employees From Harm

10 August 2018

Ashley Gray

Safety signs are important parts of keeping your employees safe from harm, yet they're often displayed as an afterthought. Fulfilment of your legal obligations doesn't necessarily mean making signs as effective as they can possibly be, and that can lead to accidents and injuries.

It's not a simple case of putting signs up in roughly the right area. Your staff deserve some thought to be put into where you display your safety signs, as it can make a huge difference to their hazard perception while working. Follow these tips and you'll get the most out of your workplace warnings.

Make it as relevant as possible

General warning signs aren't all that useful, as they don't give people a solid idea of what to look out for or how to act. You should make sure your signs are specific to the hazards in your workplace and displayed in the relevant areas. Sometimes, getting some custom signs made is the best option, as it helps you point out potential problems more clearly.

Ensure any text is easy to read

If you have safety signs that need writing to clarify their meaning, keep the messages short and simple. Too much text tends to get ignored, rendering the sign useless. To get an idea of the size you'll want the writing to be, you can print some paper signs of your own and try reading them from different distances before you order permanent ones from your digital printing service.

Use standard symbols wherever possible

There's a comprehensive set of standardised symbols to denote various hazards, and the reason they exist is to make sign recognition instantaneous. You should include symbols wherever they're appropriate, even if they need some text as well. This helps people understand the hazards at a glance, which can make the all the difference.

Cater to all of your employees

You might have some people working in your business who are blind or partially-sighted, unable to read or non-English speakers. They need to be kept safe too, so consider their needs when ordering signs. You can use braille, different languages or more symbols to help people understand what the signs are saying.

Use colours to grab attention

There's a good reason warning signs are often yellow or red: they're colours that make people take notice. This is particularly important in busy, hectic work areas. If your workplace has any low-light areas, you should use fluorescent or glow-in-the-dark elements to ensure the signs are still seen.

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