We visit 25-30 facilities each year, with about 15% of those being first-time and last-time visits! And man-o-man, we see some crazy things. I may have unreasonable expectations of safety, but complying with OSHA standards that have been on the books for 50+ years should not be a battle we are still fighting today. Take basic safety signage for example. The OSHA standard on accident prevention signs and tags (1910.145) has been around since 1974, and although a lot of facilities rely on these signs as reminders to work safely or to point out specific hazards, they are often made “in-house” and fall well short of complying with the OSHA standard and a far cry from the ANSI standards ANSI Z535 series.
The number of facilities and their safety personnel who are not even aware of these fundamental requirements is shocking. Then, listen to their complaints regarding the Audit/Assessment findings about how “nit-picky” we are. Sayings like “that faded sign never hurt anyone” are astounding.
It is a short and easy standard to read and understand. You don’t need to attend an OSHA outreach course, hire a consultant, or spend a lot of time or money to get these basics under control.
Let’s start with the two (2) classes of signs OSHA prescribes:
(emphasis by me)