Safety is a vital human need, just like shelter and food. Ensuring safety is so important to humankind that we have specific institutions to enforce and assure safety to people! Due to this, many governments have come up with their own set of safety guidelines and regulations to ensure that there is consensus amongst everyone.
Various safety signs and safety laws exist to maintain law and order among citizens. When chaos ensues, there is an increased chance of danger. The Australian government follows the AS 1319:1994 standard when it comes to safety.
What is the Australian Standard?
The Australian Standard 1319:1994 set out special requirements for the use of safety boards and laws. Safety in the workplace is paramount in Australia. Preventing injuries and protecting the staff and other visitors is of utmost importance in a workplace. These guidelines reinforce safety at the workplace through their own rules and regulations.
This standard divides the signs into four major branches:
- Regulatory signs: These signs include rules and regulations about a particular activity that will result in a legal offence if not followed. Breach of safety orders, regulations, and other procedures based on their implication in the workplace are also liable to the law. Regulatory signs are further divided into three subcategories:
- Prohibition Signs: These signs are self-explanatory. They describe activities that must not be performed in the given environment. The sign typically involves a slash and an annulus in red, whereas the prohibited activity is in black.
- Mandatory Signs: These signs are a mandate; they exist to inform a particular action or rule in the given environment. The colour code is usually blue and white, and these signs are referred to as ‘pictograms’.
- Limitation Signs: These signs specify a numerical or a suitably defined limit on a particular activity in the given environment.
- Hazard signs: These signs are divided into Danger or Warning signs. While the former is a warning of a hazardous activity that might be life-threatening, the latter is a sign of a dangerous activity that is less likely to be life-threatening. While danger signs usually have the word ‘Danger’ in white and red, warning signs are issued in yellow and black colours.
- Emergency Information Signs: These signs specify the locations of a given facility like a fire exit or a first aid room. Typically, they feature white texts on a green background.
- Fire Signs: Fire signs indicate the location of fire-fighting services, types of equipment and other fire alarms. They are represented with red and white colours.
Why are safety signs vital?
Research shows that most cases of workplace hazards occur due to the lack of indication. According to the SWA, almost 3000 people have had near-fatal accidents in workplaces due to poor safety signage. Safety is a prerequisite in such an environment where many people are working together.
Safety signage becomes all the more critical in scientific industries because not every labour is going to be aware of the risk factors of a chemical or a barbed wire. These signs help bring attention to such possible dangers, thereby avoiding fatality.
Nowadays, it is mandatory to install appropriate safety signs as part of regulatory standards for workplaces to ensure the wellbeing of their employees. Signage placements follow the ANSI standards. A workplace that does not have proper warning signs will be penalised for violating safety regulations and fined heavily with immediate regulatory action.