OSHA safety signs

OSHA Safety Signs for Compliance, Hazard Awareness and Worker Protection

OSHA Sign Requirements Under 29 CFR 1910.145

OSHA governs safety signs in the United States. In its Specifications for Accident Prevention Signs and Tags, 29 CFR 1910.145, it provides specifications for signs, accident prevention signs, and safety tags. According to the regulation, signs must be put in place "to indicate and define specific hazards." It also spells out the necessity of explaining the gravity of the threat and required imagery. It's important for occupational safety and health professionals to understand that this is the most basic level of safety sign design and implementation.

How ANSI Z535 and ISO 3864 Build on OSHA's Baseline

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) offer additional, critical detail. ANSI Z535 delineates five different types of safety signs - SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS, DANGER, WARNING, NOTICE and CAUTION - and also includes detailed guidance regarding placement, shape and choice of illustration. ISO 3864 provides insight on global, graphical symbols. While they contain the latest criteria for state of the art warnings, ANSI and ISO can often be overlooked by companies designing and implementing safety signage. OSHA's 2013 update to 1910.145 incorporated the ANSI Z535 standards as an accepted design approach, which is why best practice signs today carry the expanded signal word formats. Learn more in our resource on ANSI Z535.2 best practices.

Wholesale Customize Labels specializes in designing safety signs and safety sign systems that are not only compliant with OSHA, ANSI, and ISO, but use the latest warnings technology to more effectively create awareness and explain hazards specific to your workplace.

Getting a third party perspective can help ensure your signs effectively communicate, reduce visual clutter, and support your workplace's safety and risk objectives. Let Wholesale Customize Labels evaluate your safety signs today.

Frequently Asked Questions About OSHA Safety Signs

Does OSHA require safety signs?

Yes. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.145 requires signs to indicate and define specific hazards that could harm workers or the public, and specifies designs for danger, caution and safety instruction signs. Other OSHA standards add sign requirements for specific hazards such as confined spaces and exits.

What are the OSHA safety sign colors?

Under 29 CFR 1910.145 and ANSI Z535.1, danger signs are red, black and white; caution signs are yellow with black lettering; and safety instruction signs are white with a green panel. The ANSI Z535 formats recognized by OSHA add orange warning signs and blue notice signs.

What changed in OSHA's 2013 sign regulation update?

OSHA's 2013 update to 1910.145 incorporated the ANSI Z535 standards as an accepted approach to sign design, allowing the expanded signal word formats, symbol panels and message layouts that define best practice signs today.