Basic Design Guidelines For Safety Signs

All of us are familiar with safety signs, which we have seen both on the roads and in our various places of work

. In fact, they have become so ubiquitous that we take them for granted though they play a vital role in helping us avoid potentially dangerous situations. While there are no nationally mandated standards for these warning signs, allowing various groups and companies to design their own, the American National Standards Institute have crafted a set of guidelines that have become widely accepted. The ANSI is a private, non-profit group whose aim is to develop voluntary standards for products, services, systems and processes in the US.

ANSI defines safety signs as visual devices to alert observers to possible dangers so they can be avoided. As such, they should be visually striking and clearly communicate their message. The basic components of these warning signs are a combination of a signal word, a message or a symbol.

Signal words indicate the degree of seriousness of a potential danger, and are associated with a particular color. Danger is intended to designate an imminent hazard which could result in severe injury or even death if not avoided. Red is the color for this particular signal word and its use should be limited only to the most perilous situations. Warning is used in safety signs to alert passers-by to potential hazards that could cause injury or death and is associated with orange. Caution is for situations that may result in minor injury; it can also warn against unsafe practices and is associated with yellow. Green is used to identify safety equipment and emergency escape routes while blue is used for safety information on bulletin boards and signs. Signal words, however, do not have to be in the particular color they are associated with, but should be in any color that clearly stands out against the background; for example, light colored lettering should be used against a dark background.

The message panel is included with many safety signs to elaborate on the exact nature of the hazard and how it can be avoided. There are also guidelines that cover letter size and font to be used with the aim of communicating the message in an easily readable, clear and concise manner. Similarly, if a symbol is used, it should be one that is readily recognizable and understood by everyone. For the sake of further standardization, most warning signs are rectangular although shapes can vary depending on the needs of the organization using them. For example, traffic signs used by the Department of Transportation are diamond-shaped.

If a private company uses safety signs, it should thus use ones that conform to these standards rather than designing its own unless it has special needs; it can do this by ordering its signs from suppliers whose designs are in line with the relevant guidelines.

by:Jeff D McQueen

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