The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has certain safety banners for the workplace that are required to be posted where employees can easily see them.
Depending on the industry, employer or situation, these OSHA compliance signs can range from exit signs to fire extinguisher safety signs, hazardous area warnings or wet floor/slip and fall warnings. Here’s why it’s important for employers to follow OSHA directives on displaying or posting these signs according to the agency’s rules.
Inform Employees and Visitors of Risk
Chances are good that the employees who work in a given location or a particular workstation have a good idea of the potential hazards they face every day. But there may be times when there’s a substitute, vendor, visitor or new employee who’s really inexperienced.
Those safety banners for the workplace can provide a stark warning to exercise caution, be aware of danger or follow specific safety instructions to avoid injury. Because OSHA compliance signs are generally limited to certain colors and styles, they may be easily recognizable as something that requires attention because of their consistency from location to location, kind of like the way drivers recognize stop signs by color and shape no matter where they may be driving.
Keep Employees in a Safety Mindset
As employees go about their day, they may become distracted by their assigned tasks or preoccupied with other workplace pressures. When they lose focus and stop paying attention to what they’re doing, human error can come into play, and that can result in a workplace accident.
OSHA safety signs can help employers reduce these instances by supporting the development and maintenance of a safety mindset in the workplace. By posting signs that warn of hazards and dangers, employers can remind employees that they need to be mindful of the potential for injury at work. As good workplace safety practices become more of an ingrained habit, a workplace may see a decline in health and safety incidents.
Stay in Compliance
OSHA takes its compliance signs pretty seriously. It’s a reliable way of letting employees know what their rights and responsibilities are, as well as who to contact if they want to report something to OSHA.
That’s one of the reasons why these safety signs and banners for the workplace are required by law. Even if your company already has practices in place to make sure all workers know the same information as what’s on the OSHA compliance signs, those posters need to be put up in places where they’ll be seen by everyone.
OSHA rules outline how and where safety signs need to be posted in the workplace, and under what conditions. OSHA rules and regulations may also define what shapes and colors these signs are, and what the text must be.
In Closing
OSHA compliance and safety signs can help inform workers, vendors, visitors, and others of potential dangers. By posting up various safety hazard signs, you're helping to promote a culture of safety and increasing safety awareness. Plus, they keep companies compliant with OSHA rules, avoiding penalties and fines while supporting good workplace safety habits.
