OSHA-compliant signage

Confined space signs can warn of specific dangers – like this one, which warns about the breathability of the atmosphere. Tragically, deaths by asphyxiation and serious to fatal injuries due to inhaling dangerous substances are all too common, most often in work environments that casually skirt the rules. A pictogram like this one can communicate in ways and to audiences that mere words can't.

Signs like these are important for limiting liability in case of accidents, but the best reason to include them in your construction plan isn't to avoid responsibility, it's to make sure accidents don't happen in the first place. Passersby who walk by a sign like this one might be a little more aware of their surroundings than ones who don't.

All the training in the world will go to waste if workers don't know when to remember their training and engage the procedures they've learned. This sign and label not only tell employees at this plant what to do, but why – two essential characteristics of any good safety plan.

While not technically a sign, reflective labels like these are an effective way to get people's attention. In the same way that all the lockout-tagout training in the world is useless without visual cues, your PPE (or Personal Protective Equipment) investment won't be effective if employees at your job site don't know when to use it.

For the health and safety of their employees, companies are required erect confined space signage wherever an area is unsuitable for continued occupation by workers, and where getting out might be a problem. It can be broadly differentiated into two types: areas where permits are required and spaces where they aren't. This sign helps prevent injuries by telling workers that if they don’t have the proper training, they can’t go in to the area.

OSHA requires danger signage to be red, black and white only – and in order to minimize confusion, icons used to represent individual hazards have to be roughly the same (although wording on signs may vary). “Hot” signs are well suited for foundries, places with kilns,

According to OSHA, "Caution signs shall be used only to warn against potential hazards or to caution against unsafe practices."This caution sign is OSHA-compliant – it reminds workers of a regulation, and attempts to inform workers that there are risks in what they’re doing.Under OSHA, caution signage should be yellow.

Under OSHA regulations, notice signs are the least threatening type of mandated signage – they remind workers of procedure, but without the implication of imminent danger. Notice signs don’t necessary warn workers of imminent danger; they’re reminders of best practices more than anything else.