Hints on Designing an Effective Warning Sign

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To make your signs and labels as effective as possible, follow these hints.
Click on the headings.

1. Emphasize Action

Give the viewer instructions on how to avoid the hazard. Bias the sign towards action. Signs are really advertisements for safety. They need to be persuasive.

2. Use a Symbol

A symbol provides a quick way to reinforce the safety message and broaden your audience.

3. Write in a Headline Style

Use direct words. "Wear Hard Hats" is better than "Hard Hats are Required". Avoid difficult to interpret adverbs: "Respond within one minute" is better than "Respond quickly."

5. Choose the Proper Header

The header helps get the sign noticed.

6. Choose the Right Material

Installation and ordering costs are often more than the sign itself. As a result, a durable sign always pays for itself with reduced labor.

7. Use Bilingual Warnings

Although the use of a symbol is strongly encouraged in order to better communicate hazard information across language barriers, more and more warnings themselves are now shown in two languages.

4. Size the Sign Correctly

Signs and labels shall be of the size to allow the first line of the message be read from sufficient distance to avoid the hazard. Click here for greater guidance on legibility and letter height.

8. Learn about the New ANSI Standard

The new ANSI standard for safety signs emphasizes custom design. It suggests that you add an Action statement, consequences, a symbol, use mixed case and, in many situations, add emergency information.