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The Role of Visual Communication in Preventing Workplace Hazards

Five notices in one: warning signs about safety on a building site, fixed to a wooden fence.

By: Vishnu Reji

When you think of how to warn someone of a potential danger, you might naturally think of written warnings as being the most efficient way of communicating this danger. However, when you imagine any warning signs that you come across in your daily life, they almost always have a visual component. This makes the warning striking and immediate, as well as allowing the viewer to understand what the danger actually is if the visual is well designed.

This is a philosophy you could adopt when protecting your staff from your own workplace hazards, preventing injuries and unnecessary risks.

Signs

As discussed, signage is important when it comes to avoiding workplace hazards. In fact, a lot of the signs that you might think to use can just be plucked from those you’ve seen around. This familiarity is a strength, as it means that those who will be looking at this sign will probably also have seen it. Keeping these signs posted around areas can help to tell people not only to be careful in general as they approach, but also exactly what they should be looking out for, allowing for specific measures to be taken (hard hats in the case of falling debris being a risk, for example).

Barriers

An installed barrier blocking a path that was once open sends a pretty strong and clear message – do not go this way. Those who put the barrier there will know who can go around it, and those otherwise would only likely try and get around it if they know that they shouldn’t be. However, it’s not even just as simple as that, as barriers can also have the benefit of allowing you to create a path that is followable for others, letting the work go unimpeded in the knowledge that nobody is being put in harm’s way. Options like easyextend can also help you to fit the barriers to the specific circumstances of your job.

Use of Color

There is even a shortcut that you could utilize here – with much of your signage likely already utilizing this to convey their various messages of warning. Red is associated with danger, as well as a command to stop, with green often having the opposite connotation. In some areas, such as industrial worksites, you might think of even employing a traffic light system to manage the changing flow of the site – allowing a more adaptable approach depending on whether or not a given area is safe to approach at that time.

Gentle Reminders

A stack of hard hats next to a hazardous area, or safety equipment around where the hazardous materials are kept – messages of convenience can help to prevent incidents. Of course, you’re also going to deploy the proper signage here to make sure the message is being articulated more clearly, but the temptation to take shortcuts will always be there, and you have to make it as difficult as possible to do so. This can provide a neat solution that keeps safety as a consistent presence.