Appliance Design - September 2007 - (Page 64) DECORATION SAFETY LAB E LS Fig. 1. Sample safety label, in both vertical and horizontal form ats, illustrates pictographs and verbiage for a lawn mower. The pictograph shows the hazard. The verbiage contains, in order, the signal word, the iden tification of the type of hazard, the text on how to avoid the hazard, and the con sequences of not avoiding the hazard. Efficient label design helps ensure compliance and safe operation. F or manufacturers, applying safety labels on their products have never been more important. Inadequate warnings could have a wide variety of consequences for the company, its employees and its customers — consequences that range from non-compliance to lawsuits to minor injuries or even death. But it’s not enough just to apply safety labels; their design and presentation are critical to their effectiveness. Because of the significance of safety labels in the manufacturing process, a number of industry standards have been developed. But these standards change every day, with more being required of manufacturers to meet them. With this ever-growing list of standards, the label design issue has become complicated and confusing. ANSI and ISO by jim heckman Jim Heckman is technical consultant, Standard Register, Dayton, Ohio. 64 applianceDESIGN September 2007 For guidance in the development of safety labels, manufacturers often turn to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ANSI and ISO standards are, in many ways, very similar, and manufacturers in all industries, foreign and domestic, typically use one or both sets of standards on their products. However, manufacturers must note whether a particular industry has its own set of standards (e.g., the lawn mower industry or medical devices), as those standards supersede the standards set by ANSI and ISO. ANSI labels are comprised of four key elements: 4The signal word panel (CAUTION, WARNING, DANGER). 4Identification of the hazard. 4How to avoid the hazard. 4The consequences of not avoiding the hazard. Standards set by ISO for safety labels include: 4An optional signal word panel. 4A hazard pictogram inside a triangle. 4Yellow background. 4Optional text outlining the hazard and hazard avoidance. At the core of both sets of standards is the actual hazard, which is the sole purpose www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
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