Just about every business has some kind of safety signage posted. For the most part, your average business is keeping up to date with signage to stay within compliance regulations. There are also serious safety benefits, furthering the need for businesses to comply.

Safety and prohibition signs are prevalent but what do they really do? As it turns out, there are a ton of benefits to having proper signage around your business other than meeting compliance standards.

Avoiding risks

The single biggest reason for safety and prohibition signs is to prevent accidents. Safety response protocols can only go so far, so prevention is critical. Businesses everywhere can benefit from clearly posted and updated safety signage throughout the building.

These signs help in several ways. First of all, it encourages employees to avoid hazardous areas. Proper signage can provide alternate routes and prohibition signs can provide warnings about the dangers of proceeding. Signage can encompass things like dangerous equipment or relatively simple dangers like slipping and falling.

Congestion in certain areas is also an issue and the right signage can help reduce it. When you have more people in a small area, it only increases the risk of something going wrong. With fewer people in one area, there is a far lower risk of something going wrong and it resulting in an injury.

Responding in an emergency

Another majorly important reason for prohibition and safety signs is because that can provide employees with the necessary steps to help in an emergency. While it may be more ideal to prevent incidents from taking place, accidents are still going to happen. Being able to respond accordingly can mean the difference between life and death in some instances.

Your average safety regulations cover egress routes, too. Signs have to be posted along the exact exit route to properly indicate where the nearest exit is, especially when a path might not be obvious.

Equipment signage

Prohibition signs are most prevalent around heavy machinery and equipment. There are inherent dangers involved in not only operating those machines but even being in the immediate area. Prohibition signs make it clear what activities are not safe and, therefore, not allowed in proximity to the equipment.

The most common equipment safety and prohibition signs pertain to lockouts, instructions, and specific hazards. The lockout/tagout (LO/TO) can kick in before servicing, with it being required to inform the employee that the LO/TO procedure is taking place.

Specific instructional signs are critical as well. They tell employees when to shut off a machine, when to check oil and fuel levels, and provide important directions prior to the operation of those machines. Finally, these signs are great for warning about specific hazards. Moving parts, oil pressure, and high air pressure are common issues with machinery and the appropriate signage can keep employees informed of those dangers.

Directing to PPE safety equipment

In this day and age, it is more critical than ever to not only use PPE equipment but to have it readily available for employees. Proper safety signage can not only promote safe practices but also identify what kind of protection equipment must be worn for specific applications or in certain areas.

The most common types of PPE equipment include eye protection, ear protection, and fall protection. Proper signage directs employees where to find certain protective equipment, how it can prove beneficial, and the dangers of not using it. There are far more applications to safety and prohibition signs than can be covered in this space. Businesses can stay in lockstep with changing regulations, staying ahead of the curve.