Learning Center - Safety Signs
Facility safety signs play a vital role in keeping your workers, tenants, the general
public and others safe from harm.
Legally proper warnings today go far beyond the old "Danger" style OSHA
safety signs many of us are familiar with. Today's safety signs include symbols,
translations, code-compliant colors and details about how to avoid a hazard.
How clearly a safety sign communicates its message is linked in critical ways to
its effectiveness. More than that, each sign should be part of an overall system
of safety, a program to keep workers in your factory, plant and office building
safe. Learn more about safety signs by choosing a topic below.
Topics:
Confined Spaces Warning Signs
The OSHA regulation for confined space signs reads as follows:
1910.146(c)(2) "If the workplace contains permit spaces, the
employer shall inform exposed employees, by posting danger signs or by any other
equally effective means, of the existence and location of and the danger posed by
the permit spaces."
Safety Signs for Electrical Enclosures
Enclosures that do not clearly show that they contain electrical devices shall be
marked with a safety sign in accordance with ANSI Z535 series, which deals with
product safety signs.
Electrical Lockout and Tagout Safety Signs
The OSHA lockout standard is extensive, and rightly so as thousands of workers are
killed or severely injured each year because lockout procedures were not followed.
Below are key quotations from OSHA's lockout regulations:
1910.147(c)(2)(i) "If an energy isolating device is not capable
of being locked out, the employer's energy control program under paragraph
(c)(1) of this section shall utilize the need to show tags here too."
Emergency Shower Safety Signs
1910.151 C "Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed
to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing
of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency
use."
Escape Plan Safety Identification Signs
Around the world, Clarion is on the case for state-of-the-art standards in our industry...Recently,
Clarion President Geoffrey Peckham participated with a dozen of the world's safety
sign experts in reviewing a Draft International Standard for Safety Identification
- Escape Plan Signs.
Eyewash Station Safety Signs
1910.151 C "Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed
to injurious corrosive materials, suitable facilities for quick drenching or flushing
of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emergency
use."
Fire Extinguisher Signs
OSHA is very clear on the requirement for employers to identify the location of
fire extinguishers. The rule is as follows:
OSHA: 1910 157 (c)(1) Fire Protection - Portable Fire Extinguishers
"The employer shall provide portable fire extinguishers and shall mount, locate
and identify them so they are readily accessible to employees without subjecting
the employees to possible injury."
Fire Hose Signs
The OSHA regulation for fire hose signs reads as follows:
1910.158(c)(1) - Reels and cabinets "Where reels or cabinets
are provided to contain fire hose, the employer shall assure that they are designed
to facilitate prompt use of hose valves, the hose, and other equipment at the time
of a fire or other emergency."
First Aid and Emergency Equipment Signs
From first-aid stations and stretchers to eyewash stations and AED devices, Clarion's
signs assist in protecting millions of people every day. As the OSHA citation shown
below makes clear, adequate first aid supplies must be readily available. Marking
their location with highly visible, symbol-based signs, is a perfect way of making
sure OSHA views your first aid supplies as "readily available."
Forklift Safety and Pedestrian Path Marking Signage
Forklift traffic accidents are a major concern for many companies, many facilities,
many industries. Proper training that is permanently reinforced by safety signs
is key to reducing risk in this area. Oftentimes sign clutter is the order (disorder)
of the day. Now is the time to replace the disorganized, hodge-podge appearance
of your forklift safety rules with an easy-to-understand Clarion composite sign
that clearly designates the rules of the road for forklifts in your plant. Your
new Clarion sign will combine the in-plant traffic signs into a single sign, logically
arranged sign that will provide a simple, uncluttered means to communicate traffic
rules to all forklift operators.
Material Safety Data Sheets or MSDS Signs
1910.1200(g)(8) "The employer shall maintain in the workplace
copies of the required material safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical,
and shall ensure that they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees
when they are in their work area(s). (Electronic access, microfiche, and other alternatives
to maintaining paper copies of the material safety data sheets are permitted as
long as no barriers to immediate employee access in each workplace are created by
such options.)"
Pathway Marking Signs
OSHA says the following about marking aisles and passageways:
1910.22(b)(2) "Permanent aisles and passageways shall be appropriately
marked."
1910.22(d)(1) "In every building or other structure, or part
thereof, used for mercantile, business, industrial, or storage purposes, the loads
approved by the building official shall be marked on plates of approved design which
shall be supplied and securily affixed by the owner of the building, or his duty
authorized agent, in a conspicuous place in each space to which they relate."
PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) Signs
The long and the short of it is that employers are required to determine if PPE
should be used to protect their workers. If PPE is to be used, a PPE program should
be implemented. This program should address the hazards present; the selection,
maintenance, and use of PPE; the training of employees; and monitoring of the program
to ensure its ongoing effectiveness. Clarion's safety signs are an integral part
of your PPE program, acting as a visual reminder to reinforce training and compliance
with company safety policies regarding the wearing of personal protective equipment.