Workplace safety signs
What are workplace safety signs?
Nothing beats a good feeling of safety while at work, knowing that you will report for work and leave while still in good condition free from accidents and injuries. But what makes you safe? What creates a safety culture in you? What ensures that you won’t be a victim to injuries?
As we know, danger is always larking around, from broken glasses to slippery floors or even machines with sharp blades. So how can we be safe from all this? It all goes down to workplace safety signs.
Workplace safety signs are visual tools that make use of symbols, pictograms and words and are used to provide information, details as well as instructions concerning the hazards that you can encounter at the workplace. The correct comprehension and understanding of these signs is very important for the necessary feedback or action for the specific situation which is described.
As per the Kenyan constitution, every workplace is entitled to keep its workers safe by communicating safety messages to them through workplace safety signs.
Why are workplace safety signs important?
Workplace safety signs are important when it comes to maintaining a safe environment for workers and even visitors. Below are reasons why workplace safety signs are important and should not be ignored:
- Hazard awareness: workplace safety signs ensure that employees and visitors are alerted of potential dangers in their environment. These dangers may include: slippery floors, corrosive chemicals, hot materials or sharp and pointed objects. This ensures that everyone in that environment is safe from the risk of potential injury or harm.
- Regulation compliance: According to the safety standards in the country, workplaces are required to have safety signs to ensure safety of all staffs 236A.This is why you will see safety signs at most places when you enter a workplace eg: a factory or even an office.
- Emergency preparedness: During emergency situations, we need quick response to respond to the occurring emergency effectively. This is where safety signs come in handy as they help you know where emergency first aid kits or where exit points are located. This ensures that emergency response is fast and effective.
- Promoting safety culture: Humans have a habit of forgetting or being ignorant to the obvious surrounding, hence the need of having safety signs which ensure that you are reminded of the danger that is there or danger that can occur in that workplace environment. This promotes a safety culture by ensuring that safety protocols are well adhered to.
- Universal communication: Workplace safety signs make use of symbols and pictograms that are recognized universally. This makes it effective as it conveys important safety information to a diverse workforce, even those with language barriers.
What happens when workplace safety signs are not installed?
Since we already know what workplace safety signs are and why they are important, let’s get ahead and understand what are the implications of not having them.
Workplaces operating without safety signs face compromising the safety of employees and even the visitors who come at the workplace. This is because lack of the safety signs can lead to higher chances of accidents and injuries as workers and visitors remain clueless on the potential hazards that are in the workplace environment. To the individuals involved it can lead to significant physical harm but to the organization, it can lead to legal and financial penalties due to lack of compliance on safety regulations Cap. 236A.Unsafe working conditions can lead to poor productive results from employees since their morale has been ruined by the negative work environment. Lack of workplace safety signs also leads to lack of trust between the employer and the employees and also places the lives of the employees at risk.
