Health and safety signs are required to be placed in many public buildings and areas. Some of the places you will see these signs are in offices, hospitals, construction sites and factories. You may have become used to seeing safety signs every day but they carry out an important role in ensuring the safety of people in hazardous areas.
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The colours and the graphic of the safety sign will give you an idea of what to be aware of without even having to read the text. This is done on purpose so that the safety signs can bridge language barriers. There are different types of signs that you will come across and these can actually be grouped into categories. These are signified by the colour used on the sign, shape of sign and the icons or symbols used. These categories are mandatory, prohibition, warning, fire equipment and safe condition signs. A prohibition sign will tell you to avoid doing something. This signifies danger and that you are not to proceed beyond a certain point. The colour red is used to indicate danger and this colour is used across countries as a warning colour. The shape is generally a circle. Some examples are signs used for no parking, no smoking and no entry.
There are also warning signs that are signified by the colour yellow.
It will catch your eye immediately. And these signs tend to be triangular in shape. The graphic is usually black on the yellow background. These signs will warn you of a danger so that you understand what to do to protect yourself. Some examples of these warning signs are mind the step, caution slippery floor and caution hot water. Green is associated with safety and therefore used for safe condition signs. You can find these in square or rectangular shapes with the graphic being white on the green background. These tend to have a border in white colour as well. Green is used for first aid signs, fire exit, assembly point and emergency stop.
Mandatory signs are there to let you know what you have to do.
These also come in round shapes. The colour for these signs is blue and it is a calming colour. Some of the messages that will be given by these blue mandatory signs are pedestrians only, wear face mask and keep clear. There are also fire equipment signs that will indicate the location of fire equipment. These signs are also in red but the shape is generally square or rectangular. The graphic will be in white with a white border. You can use this to indicate the location of the gas shut off valve and fire extinguisher. When you are setting up workplace safety signs, you need to consider the illumination for the sign, size and directional flow arrows. The size of the sign should be enough for you to view it without straining the eyes. An illumination of the sign has to be one if there is no natural or artificial light for visibility.