Different Signs and Symbols and Their Meaning

Signs and symbols are the most intuitive, universal, efficient, and effective ways to communicate. In most cases, they don’t need to be taught. They are most widely used to issue warnings about a hazardous area or material. Those who handle hazardous materials are especially well versed with the various hazard symbols, as they are essential for ensuring a safe working environment.

There are two types of safety symbols used: one is for general safety protocol, while the other is used to label hazardous chemical elements. 

Safety symbols and signs

Safety symbols and signs are essential to mitigate accident risks in heavy industries. These symbols help warn workers about hazardous zones or materials in the workplace. Apart from ensuring regulatory compliance and receiving safety clearance for the workplace, these symbols act as a preventive measure to avoid accidents in the workplace. Apart from industries, these signs are used in different public places, in transportation, and in educational institutions. Here are the four major types of safety symbols used:

• Warning – This is represented by yellow signs with instructions to be careful and take precautions. These signs are usually depicted in a triangular shape with yellow or black text and pictures. General warnings for electric shock and magnetic fields are shown with warning symbols.

• Prohibition -These safety signs are represented in red colour and are round-shaped, usually indicating a high level of danger. In case of stop or shutdown of operation, the red colour is used as a prohibition symbol. The messages conveyed by these symbols such as do not touch, do not enter, etc.

• Mandatory – Mandatory symbols are represented on blue boards. Such symbols are put up to provide precise instructions about behaviour and action to be maintained at all times in an area. These include: wear safety glasses, use hand gloves, etc.

• Emergency – Emergency is portrayed in green colour and used for a first aid box, emergency exit, etc. These are symbols that are meant to draw attention only in case of an emergency.

Types of safety signs

Safety signs are also used to prevent injuries at the workplace. These safety signs used at the workplace are usually standardised in order to convey the information to employees across geographies. Following are the types of safety signs used in an industry or in public places:

1. Danger signs – Danger signs are the most significant signs. All workers need to be aware of danger signs to ensure their own safety and that of those around them. Danger signs indicate an immediate hazard, which can cause serious injury or even death if not avoided or averted. Locations with radiation risk and restricted areas usually have danger signs.

2. Warning signs – These are elevated warning signs that are diamond-shaped and are labelled with an appropriate warning in yellow or black letters.

3. Caution signs – Cautions signs represent the lowest level hazard. Wet floors and stairways are examples of these signs. It calls for general awareness of the area without pointing to any imminent threat.

4. Fire safety signs – These signs are usually put up to call for specific actions or provide clear instructions to be followed in case of a fire. These are used to point towards the fire exit, fire extinguisher, fire hose, etc.

5. Notice signs – These signs convey general information regarding risk factors.

COSHH symbols

COSHH are essential symbols used for the purpose of safety and handling of hazardous items. It tells you which item is hazardous and the hazard level associated with it. There are many types of COSHH symbols, such as explosives (bomb exploding symbol), flammable items (open flame symbol), gas under pressure (gas cylinder symbol), oxidising items (open flame over a circle symbol), and corrosive substance (corrosion on hand and surface), to name a few.

Gas cylinder pictorial

Various gas cylinders are used for industry-specific purposes. Most of these may not necessarily be hazardous to humans, but as these are usually stored in high-pressure containers, high risk is inadvertently associated with them. The symbol below represents the gas cylinder. This symbol is used to show the hazards related to different types of gas cylinders. 

Gases under pressure can release a large amount of gas into the workplace. Inhalation of these gases in such a high volume can lead to serious health issues. Some of these compressed gases are highly flammable, making these even more of a safety risk. There are four categories of hazard gas cylinders, which are listed below:

• Compressed gas

• Liquified gas

• Refrigerated liquified gas

• Dissolved gas

Oxidising hazard symbol

The oxidising symbol is represented by an open flame over a circle on a signboard. This denotes chemicals that can lead to a dangerous chemical reaction during the preparation phase.

Conclusion

Symbols and signs are the most effective form of delivering extremely vital information with minimal or no use of supporting text. Symbols and signs are mostly universal and are designed to promote safety and reduce hazards at the workplace and in public areas. 

Different signs and symbols and their meanings must be known to the workers in order to prevent the loss of life and property. Danger signs, warning signs, hazard signs, and emergency signs are the most important signs and symbols.