Symbols for industrial safety

Abstract

Written signs are commonly used in industrial sites to provide hazard warnings and safety information. The use of safety symbols may increase the effectiveness of safety communication, because such signs are language-free, and because they can be recognized more rapidly and accurately than written text even under some conditions of interference and distraction. The effectiveness of safety symbols critically depends upon the selection of symbolic images which are readily understandable to the intended audience. A four phase evaluation of a set of selected industrial worksite symbols is described. The four phases involved identification of 33 key safety messages, selection of candidate symbols for each message, evaluation of the understandability of the candidate symbols, and determination of the preference for the 87 candidate images, using both industrial and nonindustrial (naive) personnel. Symbol understandability, in terms of percentage of correct responses and confusions, varied widely for the thirty-three referents. Despite standardized use for a number of years, the radiation, biohazard, and laser symbols were frequently misidentif ied. Symbols for protective gear, first aid, and emergency equipment were generally correctly identified. The different images selected for various hazards show the greatest range in understandability, with the results for symbolic versions of entanglement, electricity, corrosion, and overhead hazard being quite different. The preference data generally support the understandability data, with the most correctly identified image usually being the most preferred image. Participants also provided insightful comments about the reasons for their choices, including ideas about the visibility, representativeness, and effectiveness of the images proposed for each referent .

Use of hazard pictorials symbols in the minerals industry

“…One of the most common methods is simply to ask people to write down a brief definition of the meaning of a sign (Brainard et al, 1961;Walker et al, 1965;Cahill, 1975;Easterby and Zwaga, 1976;Collins and Lerner, 1982). In addition to indicating the understandability of the symbol, wrong answers from the definition procedure provide insight into the kinds of confusions and misunderstanding associated with a particular symbol.…”

“…Simply selecting a pictorial to convey a safety message from existing catalogues such as Dreyfuss (1972) Collins and Lerner (1982) found that several Internationally proposed life-safety symbols communicated messages that were opposite to their Intended message to a large number of people. Before symbols are selected for mining applications, their effectiveness In communicating the Intended message to members of a mining population must be evaluated.…”

“…Studies of safety symbols have concentrated upon symbols for consumer products (Easterby and Hakiel, 1977, a, b, c; fire safety (Collins and Lerner, 1982; Lerner and Collins, 1980a), and industrial safety (Lerner and Collins, 1980b;Collins, Lerner and Pierman, 1982). Easterby and Hakiel (1981) determined that the color Red was preferred for flammable hazard signs while Black was selected for poison.…”

“…Symbolic reminders of entanglement, pinch, crush, and sever hazards would be appropriate for curbing conveyor Injuries. Reminders to wear hard hats also would be appropriate since 18 percent of the injuries were the result of rocks falling from the conveyor. Finally, a lock-out symbol to warn against energizing a belt during repair is needed, since both fatalities and injuries occurred during conveyor repair.…”

“…In group 1, symbols for which the confidence ratings were noticeably lower Included: Laser, Entanglement, Exit, (18) 82.9…”