Why Safety Signs Matter More Than You Think (Especially for Small Shops) - CGAP Industries

Why Safety Signs Matter More Than You Think (Especially for Small Shops)

Most small shops don't skip safety signs on purpose. The shop has run fine for years, everybody knows where the hot stuff is, and a sign feels like something for the big plants with a safety department. Then a new hire starts, a customer walks back to the bay, or an inspector shows up after a complaint, and the things everybody knows turn out to be written down nowhere.

What a sign actually does

A sign is the cheapest piece of your safety program, and the only part that keeps working when you are not standing there. Training happens once. A supervisor can only be in one place. A sign at the panel, the door, or the charger repeats the same instruction to every person who walks past, including the ones who never got the training: the temp, the delivery driver, the customer who wandered in.

It also documents intent. If something goes wrong, a posted sign shows the hazard was identified and people were told about it. A bare wall says the opposite.

What OSHA expects

OSHA's sign rule, 29 CFR 1910.145, sets what accident prevention signs must look like and what each type means. DANGER signs are reserved for immediate hazards. CAUTION signs cover potential hazards and unsafe practices. Since 2013, OSHA has also accepted signs designed to the ANSI Z535 standards, which is where the modern DANGER, WARNING, and CAUTION formats come from.

That rule tells you how a sign must look. Other standards tell you where one is needed, and those are the ones small shops run into most.

Five spots small shops get written up for

  1. Electrical panels. OSHA requires clear working space in front of electrical equipment, at least 3 feet deep at typical shop voltages, and that space can't be used for storage (1910.303(g)). A keep clear sign on the panel is how that space stays empty after the inspector leaves. See the 36-inch keep clear sign.
  2. Exit routes. Exit routes must stay free and unobstructed, and a door that could be mistaken for an exit has to be marked Not an Exit or similar (1910.37). Our blocked egress guide walks through the common failures.
  3. Fire extinguishers. Extinguishers must be mounted, located, and identified so they are readily accessible (1910.157). Once a rack or a stack of boxes goes in front of one, the sign above it is often the only thing still visible. See the fire extinguisher guide.
  4. Chemical and flammable storage. Paint, fuel, cleaners, and solvents need a marked storage area and a no smoking rule people can see. Start with the HazCom guide and the no smoking signs.
  5. Battery charging. Forklift and floor scrubber chargers give off hydrogen while they work. A charging area sign that bans smoking and open flame is cheap insurance. Browse battery and charging signs.

The math

OSHA's maximum penalty for a single serious violation is now more than $16,000, and willful or repeat violations run ten times that. An aluminum sign costs a small fraction of one citation, and a far smaller fraction of one injury.

Where to start

Walk your shop the way a stranger would. Anywhere you would grab someone's arm and say careful, that's hot, or don't go back there, a sign should be saying it for you. Then match each spot to a sign:

If the hazard in your shop is specific enough that nobody makes a sign for it, that is what we do. Tell us what you need.

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