Safety signs are an indispensable part of most heavy and light industrial sites - from welding and the operation of power tools, to the use of heavy machinery and the operations at a large scale industrial site - safety-oriented warning signs help alert and remind workers and visitors of the potential dangers around them. These signs are often required by the law, per the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements.1
Safety signs, which OSHA likes to refer to as "hazard communication" - are to be purchased or custom made following their strict guidelines on the shape, quality and color. For instance, the "blunt corners and shall be free from sharp edges, burrs, splinters, or other sharp projections," and certain signs are to be specific and noticeable bright colors - "shall be yellow; and the panel, black with yellow letters," and "the colors red, black, and white shall be those of opaque glossy samples, " and "yellow-orange fluorescent triangle", etc. 2
Here are some examples of safety signs in an industrial area:
Caution: this says that this is a risky area which could cause a minor injury/harm.
Warning: this says that this is a risky area which could cause death or severe harm.
Danger: this says that this is a risky area which has a high level of risk of death or severe harm (higher than a warning sign area).
Notice: a sign to display general safety rules.
Biohazard: this unique looking sign warns a person of a biological hazard harmful to humans. This can include the presence of a biological pathogen or medical waste that can hurt humans.
Right-to-Know(RTK): right-to-know signs are to let workers know about chemical hazards. Many RTK signs employ a number and color system to specify the hazards, along with some text to indicate which chemical the sign pertains to. The National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) came up with a well-known system whereby a simple diamond has four colors for each part (yellow = instability, blue = health risks, white = special hazards, and red = flammability), and each of the four parts has a number 0 through 4, where zero means little or no hazard and four means there exists severe hazard.
High voltage: simply an alert to the danger of either power lines or high voltage power sources around a work area that can potentially cause life threatening electrical shocks. There are two commonly used designs for this warning, one is in red, focusing on the word "Danger" and displaying a lightning bolt, and the other one a simple yellow triangle, with a lightening bolt in the middle.
Toxic: this sign has the skull-and-crossbones symbol and is mostly used as a warning of poisonous chemicals.
Radiation: as of 2007, there are now two different radiation signs. The first one has been around for about sixty plus years It is called a black trefoil (three equally spaced triangles inside a circle, connected to core circle) on a yellow background. In 2007, a new symbol was introduced to supplement the trefoil. This was done so that the sign/symbol would make intuitive sense to all people, not just the well-informed, and consequently to better protect people from dangerous exposure to nuclear radiation. The sign specifically looks like this: within a red triangle there are three pictures, the trefoil on top, with radiating waves squiggling down on top of (1.) skull-and-crossbones (toxic sign) and (2.) a person running away (to the exit).
Some Fire safety signs:
Flammable: this indicates that a flammable material or liquid is nearby. There are various designs, with one of the common ones being a yellow triangle with a fire emanating from the base.
No Smoking: while sometimes this indicates a general policy of no smoking, in the context of an industrial site, along with warning colors or text, it would mean that smoking is prohibited because of the fire hazard it causes. The symbol will almost always be a cigarette overlaid with a cross-out circle, with an additional “No Smoking” text sometimes.
Fire Extinguisher: this sign indicates a fire extinguisher is located close to the sign. It is a red sign showing an extinguisher on the left and a fire on the right, with text on the bottom, or also, some signs have red and white stripes and the text “Fire Extinguisher” and an arrow pointing down to location of the extinguisher.
1 The OSHA Part Number, 1910.145, mandates the usage of safety signs to notify workers of hazards, which if left unaware, can cause injury and sometimes property damage.
2 OSHA website (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&...