PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact

Daniel Evans
Graphic Products, Inc.
503-644-5677 ph

contact us

Graphic Products Introduces OSHA Safety Signs Best Practice Guide

Beaverton, Oregon – February 13, 2009 –A new Best Practice Guide, available free from Graphic Products, outlines how to effectively create and display safety signs that meet OSHA and ANSI standards. The guide also stresses how using proper safety signs increases productivity in the workplace.

“Everyone in your facility or workplace should be able to quickly see and clearly understand the messages conveyed on safety signs,” said Steve Hudgik, marketing manager at Graphic Products. “That’s why this guide is such a good reference—it thoroughly explains safety sign procedures and gives plenty of specific examples.”

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) was established “to ensure employee safety and health in the United States by working with employers and employees to create better working environments.”  With thousands of fatal work injuries occurring every year, knowing how to use safety signs in compliance with OSHA standards is imperative to avoiding such disasters.

The guide specifically discusses the proper hazard classifications: danger, warning, caution, biohazard, notice, and general safety messages. The guide also discusses effectively communicating messages through safety symbols or pictographs. Trying to keep up with standards for classifications and symbols can be a difficult and confusing task.

“There are far too many differences in the icons and symbols being used by those in the safety labeling industry,” said Ethan Smith, the designer at Graphic Products who headed up the project. “This results in confusion and can be a safety issue, so we recognized the need to have a complete and consistent library of safety symbols. Bringing our library up to date with the current ANSI standards was important, so I started from scratch to create the first 100% custom built safety symbol library.”

The guide then gives examples of common safety signs and explains panels often seen on safety signs. Further, the guide discusses appropriate tools and supplies needed to create safety signs, the process of printing labels and larger safety signs, and general tips on sign and label maintenance.  

The OSHA Safety Signs Best Practices Guide notes the importance of conducting a thorough inspection of your facility. Facility evaluations help you identify safety hazards and find visual communication problems that can be eliminated through proper labeling and signage. An inspection on how to perform a facility evaluation is included in the guide’s appendix.

The following is a list of contents found in the OSHA Safety Signs Best Practice Guide:

• The Importance of Safety Signs
• OSHA Compliance & Safety
  • Other Organizations Involved In Standardization
• OSHA Compliant Safety Signs & Labels
• Sign Classifications
  • Primary Hazard Classifications
  • Secondary Hazard Classifications
  • Non-Hazard Signs
  • Discontinued Headers
• OSHA & ANSI Sign Classification Table
• Safety Symbols & Pictorials
  • Safety Symbols, Pictographs, or Pictorials
  • Surround Shape
• Evaluation of Facility
• Creating Your Own Safety Signs
  • Header
  • Safety Symbol
  • Message Panel
• Tools & Supplies
• How to Create Signs & Labels
  • Label Creation Steps
  • Wide Format Label & Sign Printing
• Sign & Label Maintenance
• Summary

The Best Practice Guide To: OSHA Safety Signs is available free from Graphic Products. It may be downloaded from their web site at http://www.graphicproducts.com/free-gifts/free-osha-best-practices.php or requested by calling Graphic Products at 1-888-326-9244.

Graphic Products has been a leading label printer and supplies dealer since 1970. They are the manufacturer of the DuraLabel PRO label printer, and they carry a wide variety of labelers made by other manufacturers. They stock label printer brands such as Brady, Kroy, Brother, K-Sun, Dymo and Varitronics. They also stock supplies for discontinued label printers. Graphic Products specializes in fast, same-day shipping to meet their customers' just-in-time delivery requirements. The Graphic Products' web site is located at: http://www.graphicproducts.com/. Printers and supplies may be ordered by calling 1-888-326-9244.