In light of workplace safety and communicating safety expectations, the smallest elements can make the biggest difference. One of the most underrated and effective means of keeping a safe and functional workplace is the floor sign. Clearly visible from afar, whether cautionary, directional or otherwise, floor signs serve the crucial function of informing employees, customers and visitors. And when they’re customizable, the effects become cumulative.
Anywhere from warehouses, retail spaces, healthcare environments, and offices, customizable floor signs appeal to the unique requirements of a space while improving safety and communicating clarity.
Visual Communication
Let's be realistic, unless you make reading long policy documents or safety manuals a part of your job or life, the odds say that most people are not pouring over lengthy documents like safety manuals. However, a clearly defined floor sign, such as a triangular empty sign plate, will be seen and considered. Customized floor signs establish attention in the right place, on the floor, where people stand, walk, work, and move across. They are a form of instant visual communication.
Custom signs allow you to expand beyond general warnings. Instead of using the general warning, "Caution," try using "Caution Wet Floor" or "Stop! Do Not Enter.” Examining examples applicable to the context of the hazard represents a tangible message that reduces ambiguity, while also reinforcing people’s comprehension of the hazards or instructions.
Reinforcing Workplace Safety Standards
Workplace injuries can be not only dangerous, but expensive, both in the money spent and in lost productivity. With customized floor signs, you are able to further embed your internal safety policies by providing indications to your staff of hazards, PPE needed, restricted areas, or sanitization procedures.
In a situation like food production or clean room environments, a customized floor sign indicating “hair net required beyond this point” meets your operational needs. In a warehouse, you can create some bold and clear messaging to indicate where forklift lanes and pedestrian walkways are separated.
Targeted messaging like this facilitates compliance and encourages a culture that actively considers safety.
Multilingual and Inclusive Messaging
In any workplace, particularly diverse ones, it’s imperative that all employees are able to read safety, directional or other signs - no matter their main language. Customized floor signs can allow for bilingual or multilingual messaging, which is important for many places, such as Canada, where workplaces can have English and French together.
You can also customize your signs to add visuals icons to text for ease of access as well as providing important to ease use for employees and visitors who learn or read differently.
Boosting Brand Identity and Professionalism
Although safety is most important, we can also design custom signs with your brand colors, logos, and fonts. This adds an element of professionalism and builds on your brand’s identity in public facing spaces such as; retail shops, showrooms, or offices. It shows you have thought through every element of the space, inclusive of communication and safety.
Conclusion
Floor signs that you can customize have become invaluable tools; they improve communication and compliance while providing opportunities to define or redefine your areas of branding. These signs help to achieve a poster style communication that conveys your message, can be provided in multiple languages, can be modified as conditions change and ensures you are providing sufficient information to maintain safety and compliance for everyone in your workplace.
If you want to improve compliance, lessen accidents, or just simply make your workplace easier to navigate, customized floor signs are a practical and cost-effective method to examine.