What is a "hazard"? In the Labor Code, the concept of "hazard" is understood as a potential source of harm that poses a threat to the life or health of an employee during their work activities.
Safety signs located at the site of a potential hazard are the simplest and most effective way to warn of danger, prohibit incorrect actions, or indicate the necessity of correct actions. After analyzing the use of safety signs at the enterprise, we encountered the difficulty of finding a "happy medium" in their placement: in some places, safety signs are installed in excess, while in others, there is a minimum number. An additional factor reducing the effectiveness of safety sign perception is the lack of system, i.e., the absence of a specific sequence and location for the signs.
To increase the effectiveness of safety sign perception for improving working conditions and HSE and to reduce the impact of harmful and (or) hazardous factors of the production environment and labor process — this is exactly how we formulated the task for the next tool in developing a safety culture. To solve it, we developed Guidelines for Hazard Visualization at the company's facilities. In the guidelines, using one of the units as an example, we proposed the use of group and combined safety signs of three types depending on the installation locations.
The first type consists of safety signs installed at the entrance to a facility; their effect applies to the facility as a whole. For this type of placement, a group sign has been developed that: warns about visiting an explosion and fire hazard facility, prohibits the use of open flames and smoking, prohibits entry to unauthorized persons, and mandates the wearing of workwear, safety shoes, helmets, and safety goggles on the territory of the process facility, as well as carrying personal respiratory protection equipment.
Safety signs of the second type are placed on the entrance doors of production and auxiliary premises. The coverage area of these signs extends to the entire area of the room behind the doors. When developing group signs, a uniform order for arranging safety signs of various purposes was adopted, starting from top to bottom: first come prohibition and warning signs, followed by mandatory signs, fire safety signs, information signs, evacuation signs, and medical and sanitary signs.
To designate hazards originating from specific equipment, the guidelines suggest signs installed at the location of that equipment.
The result of implementing the guidelines was the formation of a unified procedure for labeling equipment, placing signal markings, and safety signs at the company's facilities.