AVOID POTENTIAL DANGERS IN THE WORKPLACE THROUGH OSHA SAFETY MARKINGS (GUEST POST)

Safety is a very important element in the workplace which is why the OSHA or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has imposed various guidelines when it comes to placing safety markings on facilities like factories and warehouses. Since most of these facilities have their own 5s or Kaizen program, OSHA has come up with a way to standardize these programs. 

About OSHA Floor Marking

Essentially, workplaces and other facilities should have proper safety line marking on their passages, aisles and other areas to promote the safety and the best interest of the workers. Hence, all facilities should ensure that they comply with the OSHA standards that are actually light compared to the more complicated details of the other features of workplace safety.

 All of the OSHA regulations are relevant and meet  with the legal standards. The OSHA has given a few instructions when it comes to marking facilities such as workplaces. These should be followed in order to promote maximum safety in the workplace and at the same time comply with the rules of the Department of Labor which heads OSHA. 

The OSHA Floor Marking Guidelines

Proper placing of OSHA  floor marking is a must for all facilities so they must refer to OSHA for the basic rules in setting up passages, aisles and safety markings. The rules are very simple and easy to follow so if you want to have more ideas,  you can take a look at the following:

  • The line markings should always be a full line which means no broken lines should be used
  • The markings can contain dots, shapes and icons
  • The aisle and passageways should be adequately covered
  • The minimum measurements for line markings should be 2 inches wide and 2-3 inches in length
  • The width of the aisle should be 3ft larger than largest equipment that will pass on it
  • The aisle should not be less than 4 ft

Safety Marking Colors

In the past, the most common color being used in safety markings are red and yellow. Yellow is associated with the meaning “caution” making it the most ideal color to mark sections where the incident of falling or having an accident is at the highest. Red is often used in locating items like fire extinguishers and other equipments that can combat fire.

These two colors are the thing in the past since OSHA comes up with more experimental color schemes with their floor markings. The OSHA scheme encompasses all the colors included in the rainbow and each of these has its own meanings that are relevant to general safety conditions or specific hazards. You may encounter purple which actually denotes radiation hazard as well as safety marks in orange which means possible danger from equipments.

Truly, the safety markings in the workplace play a big role in the safety and overall condition of the workers. Being knowledgeable of the color scheme meanings and particular symbols lets you avoid potential dangers just by taking a glance at these markings.  

Written by Mike Wilson –

 Mike, thank you for sending us this important information.  The badge that I wore when working in a hospital had the color codes for which emergency, i.e., Code Blue, etc. on the back of our name tags.  That way, we always had easy access to those codes.  New employees would profit from some type of identification of their company’s particular codes if they have them with them at all times. pb