Languages and Your Product Safety Labels
The question of whether or not to use additional languages on your safety labels can be a complex one to answer.
Symbol-Only Safety Label Formats Gain New Ground
This month in our series exploring the latest industry insight on effective product safety label design and symbol usage, we’ll focus on the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) approval of symbol-only safety labels.
Moving Toward a Uniform System of Hazard Recognition
This month in our series exploring the latest industry insight on effective product safety label design and symbol usage, we’ll focus on the importance of consistency in the use of symbols and formats for both product safety labels and facility safety signs.
For many years, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations for workplace safety signs were based on outdated 1941-era formats. That changed about two and a half years ago. In October 2013, OSHA incorporated the latest versions of the ANSI Z535 safety sign, tag and color standards into its safety regulations, aligning them with today’s best practices. Let’s look at how this change, which allows for consistent sign and label formats using the latest standards, is impacting our products and our workplaces.
The Symbol Design Debate: Abstract Versus Representational
Last year’s "On Your Mark" columns discussed how specific symbols have changed over time to become more standardized. This year, we’ll look closer at this important aspect of visual safety communication and eff... Read More...
Understanding Symbols: Emergency Stop
One of the critical building blocks for your product’s safe design is the proper use of color-coding and symbols. This article will explore the new developments that have occurred in the field of marking emerge... Read More...
Understanding Symbols: PPE and Universal Head Shape
In last year’s On Your Mark columns, we discussed key elements in helping to achieve your goal of creating the most effective safety labels possible. One of these critical building blocks is symbols. This year,... Read More...
Designing Effective Product Safety Labels: How to Convey Risk Severity Levels
Designing product safety labels that help to prevent injuries and save lives is a multi-faceted task. This month, we’ll focus on another key element: communicating risk using signal words.
Globally Standardized Symbols
Globally standardized symbols are available for you in two categories, those that identify functions and controls, and those that identify safety concerns.
Symbols are standardized worldwide by two highly-ac... Read More...
ISO 7010
This is the first in what will be an on-going column about compliance with graphical symbols for safety warnings.
Since 1996 I’ve chaired the American National Standards Institute’s U.S. Technical Advisory G... Read More...