4 Tips for Creating Engaging Safety Signage

Introduction

There are many ways to communicate security policies and goals to your team, from tool talks to in-depth security training. But one way to ensure that teams across the organization receive a daily, consistent reminder is to create easy, visual, and engaging informational safety signage.

Communicating clear safety messages not only helps prevent workplace injuries, but it can also lead to increased productivity, profitability, and employee engagement. This helps keep safety a priority, regardless of the task.

Businesses of all kinds are now displaying signs about social distancing and handwashing to help keep employees and customers safe. But despite the changes in messaging, there are four basic principles that can be applied to create engaging and successful safety signage.

Keep text simple

Remember that safety signage is meant to remind people of something, not to train them. So, think about the security training your employees receive and summarize it to the most important messages.

Keep them clear and concise, and try to use numbers, symbols, and icons to shorten the text. This allows people to read and assimilate the signals quickly as they work.

If you have longer, more detailed information to share, save it for your security meeting. Or, try adding a URL or QR code to your safety signage so people know where to go for more information.

Remember that safety signage is meant to remind people, not to form them.

Images before text. It is proven.

Consider which images might help draw the point of your safety sign. In some cases, there is already a recognizable image that accompanies the message, such as the icon of a wet floor sign. If you select your own images, make sure you choose images that are the right combination of attention, high quality, and clarity.

Use recognizable colors.

When choosing colors for safety signage, it would be a good idea to start with the safety colors recommended by OSHA and ANSI.

Many of these colors are already understood in the world at large, such as the use of red to mean “stop” and yellow to mean “warning.” So they will be easier for employees and Customers to understand.

It’s also possible that your organization has its own specialized system where environments, processes, or even products are already color-coded. In that case, make sure that the colors you use in your safety signs are consistent with the colors your organization already uses.

Apply content intelligently.

Since safety signs have so few words to express your point of view, it’s important to choose them carefully.

The best safety signs include messages with the following tone:

Informational: A sign that provides important information in the form of a short tip.

– Examples: Statistics, objectives, working times.

Motivator: A poster that encourages employees to do the right thing and recognizes those who do it

– Examples: Injury-free days, congratulations, benchmarks achieved.

Inclusive: A sign that builds a relationship between your organization and your employees

– Examples: Birthdays, safety dating, security trivia.

By following these simple tips, you can create safety signage that informs and motivates your staff.

And remember that just as safety signage needs to evolve when changes occur in your industry, it also needs to be regularly renewed to keep employees engaged.

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