Safety signs - are you using them properly?

Most employers are well aware of the importance of proper workplace signage to ensure maximum safety for employees. Safety signs are designed to warn of potential danger and thus reduce the risk of accident and injury. Safety signs further indicate specific behavior in a particular place.

Safety sign requirements are regulated by law

Every employer, business owner or manager of a building is obliged to mark the facility with safety signs so that it is as safe as possible to use it, move around it, as well as perform work in it. What safety signs should look like is defined by Directive 92/58/EEC, created for the European Union. However, its provisions have been incorporated into Polish law.

Depending on the type of safety sign, it is subject to a different standard, which indicates in detail its appearance and colors: PN-92/N-01256/02 (Safety signs - evacuation) and PN-N-01256-04:1992 (Safety signs - technical firefighting measures), which apply in parallel with the international standard PN-EN ISO 7010:2012 (Graphic symbols - safety colors and safety signs). Always check that the signs you intend to use comply with a specific standard.

How to properly use safety signs?

Safety signs are used wherever there is a special risk of injury, a temporary danger associated with specific circumstances, there is access to hazardous substances or it is an area that requires the use of personal protective equipment.

We can divide safety signs into two groups with respect to the time of danger:

• Permanent safety signs, such as. Danger of electric shock or Order to use head protection
• Temporary safety signs, such as. Machine under repair or Failure not to start

Safety signs must be legible and placed according to the guidelines of the standard. They should be placed in a conspicuous place, leading along the shortest line to a place of safety. Damaged signs should be repaired or replaced immediately. If they are in an area where surfaces are particularly vulnerable to dirt, they need to be cleaned regularly. The placement of safety signs should be well thought out, as signs with conflicting messages cannot be used at the same time.

If the area has limited access to artificial and natural light, it is recommended to use a sign made with photoluminescent technology, that is, glowing in the dark. Of course, not all characters appear in such a version.

Educate employees on safety signs

Before marking a building with safety signs, conduct a thorough analysis of the occupational risk assessment. Then, based on the results, you need to apply all possible measures to eliminate the risk. Wherever the danger cannot be eliminated, safety signs are required.

The employer is additionally required to inform its employees of the importance of safety signs, as well as the rules of behavior in marked areas. It is also important that every employee should know the consequences of not obeying safety signs.

Safety signs, in order to fulfill their role, must be used in accordance with certain requirements. Every effort should be made to get rid of the potential threat. Where it constantly or periodically occurs, there must be no lack of proper signage. Already in a great many situations, safety signs have saved workers from accidents.