Safety signs must be easily recognizable barcode generator to your employees. They need to have a clear pictographic illustration of the hazard, be eye-catching and use color codes that ensure they can be read from a distance.

Different types of safety signs communicate varying degrees of risk. Learn the difference between danger, warning and caution safety signs to ensure your employees are aware of any risks they face.
Warning Signs

Safety signs play an important role in keeping your facility compliant with workplace safety laws. They help to guide employees, alert them of potential hazards and provide valuable safety information, reducing the risk of accidents and injuries. However, it is important to remember that signs cannot be the only method for conveying safety information and preventing injuries. Signs can only be effective if they are visible, prominently displayed and understandable by workers.

While warning and caution signs warn of a mild risk that may result in minor to moderate nonfatal injury, danger signs signal a more severe threat that could cause serious or fatal injury. Danger signs are the most extreme of the three general categories of OSHA’s signs and should be used only when a situation poses an immediate risk of death or severe injury. They are clearly marked with the word “Danger” printed within a red rectangle or oval on the top-half of the sign or tag. These shapes ensure that the warning is noticed and easily read from a distance.

Caution signs are more of a general warning against dangerous situations that could lead to minor to moderate injury or equipment damage. Generally, they feature yellow backgrounds with black text or use a combination of yellow and black lettering. They also include safety symbols and may include additional wording or instructions.

In order to make sure that your employees understand the purpose and meaning of each type of hazard warning or caution sign, be sure to include them in your employee training program. This should be done during new hire safety orientation and annual safety refreshers. Including the different types of warning and caution signs in your company newsletters and bulletin boards will also increase employee awareness.
Danger Signs

Safety signs provide important safety information to employees, reducing the likelihood of workplace accidents and injuries. While they can't replace on-site training, these visual reminders serve as an effective supplement that ensures the most critical safety messages are always present in employees' minds. For a diverse workforce that includes many staff members who don't speak English as their first language, clearly-worded visual communication is especially helpful.

The most common and effective safety signs are those that identify hazards. These signs feature a pictographic illustration of the danger and/or a warning message in the preferred language(s) of the workforce. They also include clear and simple text instructions on how to handle the hazard. Additionally, these signs are color-coded to ensure workers who may not be able to read written text can still easily understand the warning message by seeing it at a glance.

Danger signs are the highest level of safety sign, indicating that an immediate danger exists that requires special precautions. They are reserved for the most severe hazard conditions, such as radiation and high electrical voltage. These safety signs are typically red on the top panel, white in the lower panel and black around the borders. They often contain other warning symbols, such as the snarling electricity symbol and Mr. Ouch, to make them more recognizable to workers.

While these signs are more likely to be processed implicitly than the other two types of safety signs, they still carry the same level of perceived threat as prohibition, mandatory and warning signs. This study's findings indicate that it's important to consider the underlying neural mechanisms of how people process different types of safety signs, as this can help improve their effectiveness.

It is essential that all employees be trained on the purpose and meaning of every type of safety sign, tag or label they encounter in their workplaces. This should be done during new hire safety orientations as well as annual refresher safety courses. In addition, displaying and explaining these signs on employee bulletin boards and in company newsletters can also help reinforce their understanding of the hazard risks presented by specific signs.
Caution Signs

Unlike danger or warning signs, caution signals a less severe level of accident-prevention risk. These safety signs are meant to alert employees of possible hazards or unsafe practices in the vicinity and warn them that if these risks aren’t avoided, they could result in minor to moderate nonfatal injuries. They’re also typically used to indicate areas that require special protection like eye and ear protection.

These safety signs tend to have a yellow background and black lettering on the upper panel. They may also feature a pictogram that indicates the kind of behavior or object to be cautious about. The word ‘CAUTION’ is printed on the lower panel. As with the other ANSI-approved safety sign types, these must be clearly visible from a distance to be effective.

Caution signs are also often accompanied by text that communicates the specific steps that employees need to take to avoid hazards or prevent them from occurring in the first place. Whether your workplace contains dangerous equipment or you’re in the middle of a construction project, these safety signs are a crucial way to ensure that employees are aware of the potential for accidents and injuries around them. With clear signage, your workers can take the necessary precautions to reduce on-premise injuries like slips and falls, struck-by objects and electrocution. By following ANSI and OSHA standards for these mandatory safety signs, your workers will be more likely to follow your workplace’s policies and protect themselves from on-premise accidents and injury. For more information about how to implement these essential safety signage, contact a professional. They can help you choose the best sign type and style to ensure that your workplace stays in compliance with all applicable regulations. They can also assist you in implementing and maintaining a comprehensive safety program that can help you meet all of your workplace safety goals.
Safety Instruction Signs

Safety signs help reduce workplace injuries by communicating essential safety information in a way that is visible and immediate. Often in diverse environments, where employees may not speak English as their first language or working conditions are loud enough that verbal warnings could be missed, safety messages on signs are a necessary supplement to employee training programs and best practices.

To make sure that safety messages are seen and understood, they must meet ANSI standards. In particular, all ANSI accident prevention sign categories use the same basic format: a header or signal word to indicate the level of risk associated with the sign, a message panel with specific instructions and tips to help prevent accidents or injuries, and a text legend that clearly states the suggested safe practice.

In addition to the standard sign formats, there are also specifications for the colors and design of a safety sign. Safety signs should be bright and easily visible, using rounded corners with no sharp burrs or splinters to avoid creating additional hazards. They must also be securely fastened and posted so they do not pose a threat to employees walking by.

The most important categories of safety signs are Danger, Warning, and Caution. The first category, Danger, communicates a situation that is immediately dangerous and requires special precautions, such as areas with high voltage or radiation hazards. The second category, Warning, communicates a potentially hazardous situation that may result in minor to moderate nonfatal injuries. The final category, Caution, warns of possible risks that should be taken into consideration when deciding how to proceed.

Additionally, there are other categories that communicate specific safety instructions or suggestions, such as Notice and Safety Instruction. These types of signs do not fall into the same hazard categories as the previous two but still contribute to workplace safety by providing vital information to employees, such as a caution that identifies a piece of equipment that is out of order and may require maintenance before being used again. Unlike the other hazard categories, these safety warnings do not have to include the command word “Caution” in their design, but should be displayed with a yellow panel background and black upper and lower borders.