ArticlePDF Available

Comprehension of workplace safety signs: A case study in Shiraz industrial park

January 2013
Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology 2(1):37-43

DOI:10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37

Authors:

Zahra Zamanian

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Hassan Hashemi

Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

The subjects' comprehension of the studied safety signs

…

: The tested safety signs and their comprehension by the study subjects

…

Figures - uploaded by Zahra Zamanian

Content may be subject to copyright.

Content uploaded by Zahra Zamanian

Content may be subject to copyright.

Original Article

37 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

Comprehension of workplace safety signs: A case study in

Shiraz industrial park

Zamanian Z , PhD1, Afshin A, BSc 2, Davoudiantalab AH, BSc 2, Hashemi H, PhD 3*

1- Associate Prof., Dept of Occupational Health, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

2- BSc, Dept of Occupational Health, School of Health, Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical

Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. 3- Lecturer, Dept of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Shahrekord University

of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran.

Abstract Received: May 2013, Accepted: March 2014

Background: Safety signs provide information as well as instructions concerning the hazard or

dangers in the workplace. The correct comprehension of these signs is very important for doing the

necessary feedback in the specific situation which are described.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, the comprehension of 10 selected safety signs

were investigated in 53 randomly selected employees of an industrial company in Shiraz. The

comprehension test was carried out with the aid of a standard questionnaire obtained from ISO

9186-1:2007.

Results: In this study the mean comprehension scores of the tested signs were 65.95 percent with

standard deviation if 28.7. The highest and lowest comprehension scores were for “use hearing

protectors” and “biological hazard” respectively. The comprehension of 40 percent of the tested

safety signs was lower than the minimum acceptable values of ISO 3864 and ANSI Z535.3

standards.

Conclusion: This study showed that there is a significant difference in comprehensions of tested

safety signs. For full comprehension of safety signs it is necessary to train the employees or add

supplementary texts to the symbols in some cases.

Key words: Safety, Signs, Workplace, Color, Culture

Introduction

Safety signs are one of the methods of

informing and warning the staff regarding the

type and severity of the workplace dangers

and are used considering the risk of dangers

where necessary (1-3). According to

International Standard Organization (ISO)

17724: 2003, a safety sign is a sign which

transfers a safety message. In fact, when the

signs are accompanied by colors, geometrical

figures and graphical signs, they transfer a

specific safety message (4).

In general, safety signs may represent a

danger, dangerous conditions, or

consequences of being exposed to dangers

(5,6). Also, some signs include cautions and

safety recommendations for the individuals

who execute unsafe and dangerous

behaviors; and, at the same time, show the

way to prevent such behaviors (3). Based on

some studies, various factors such as the

level of education, working experience,

working time (7-9), type of safety signs

(10,11), background* color of safety signs

and training (12-14) affect the individuals’

comprehension of the safety signs. Yet,

cultural differences are also effective in

comprehension of safety signs (15).

For instance, Chan et al. conducted a study in

U.S. and showed that the Chinese and

* Corresponding author: Hassan Hashemi, Dept of

Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health,

Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences,

Shahrekord, Iran.

Email: hashemi@hlth.mui.ac.ir

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Zamanian et al

38 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

Korean residents of U.S. comprehend the

safety signs less than the Americans.

Besides, comprehension of some signs was

quite difficult for non-Americans (16).

Furthermore, safety signs can be beneficial if

they are diverse and attractive. Also, people

should be able to understand these signs

because in cases they do not understand the

messages, they will not be able to recognize

the dangers and take the necessary

precautions (17). According to National

Safety Council, deficiency in the correct

information transfer by the safety signs is the

third common factor in investigation of the

incidents (18). The studies conducted by

Chan & Chan showed that safety signs have

to be evaluated regarding their correct

comprehension by people before use (19).

Thus, the staff’s familiarity with these signs

is of great importance in order to have a

correct understanding of the signs and their

responsibilities in case of being exposed to

dangers.

Based on what was mentioned above and

considering the fact that most safety signs in

Iran are adopted from other countries, the

present study aims to determine the

comprehensibility of the workplace safety

signs and present strategies for improving

their comprehensibility.

Materials and Methods

The present cross-sectional study was

conducted in one of the industrial companies

of Shiraz, Iran in 2013. According to the

sections 2, 3 and 6 of ISO 9186-1, at least 50

individuals from each country should take

part in each safety signs comprehension test.

Therefore, 53 non-colorblind staff of the

above mentioned company were randomly

selected for taking part in the safety signs

comprehension test using the table of random

numbers. The study data were gathered using

the standard questionnaire of International

Standard Organization (20) on quantification

of safety signs comprehension. The validity

of the questionnaire was confirmed by 3

safety and ergonomics professors. This

questionnaire contained open-ended

questions and consisted of 4 sections: 1- how

to complete the questionnaire, 2-

demographic characteristics including age,

sex, level of education, health status and type

of probable disability, 3- an example of how

to complete the safety signs comprehension

test and 4- the safety signs comprehension

test.

After all, ten 8×8 colored, back labeled signs,

including 4 prohibition signs, 2 mandatory

signs, 2 warning signs and 2 signs related to

safe conditions, were randomly selected and

glued on ten A4 papers. The used safety

signs and their meanings are presented in

table 2.

The data were analyzed using the SPSS

statistical software (v. 11.5) and the staff’s

responses to the safety signs comprehension

test were compared with the acceptable

ranges of American National Standards

Institute (ANSI) Z535.3 (21)and ISO 3864

(22)standards. Since the wrong answers

which reversely transfer the safety signs’

meanings are highly important, these answers

were separately investigated.

Results

In this study, 89.1% of the participants were

male and the rest were female. In addition,

35.5%, 44.6%, 19.2% and 7% of the subjects

were 20-30, 31-40, 41-50 and >51 years old,

respectively. Twenty three point eight

percent of the study's participants had under

high school diploma degrees, 52.1% had high

school diplomas and 25.1% had academic

degrees (table1). It should be noted that all

the study subjects were healthy.

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Comprehension of workplace safety signs

39 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

Table 1: Some demographic characteristics in one

industrial company (n= 53)

level of education

Job tenure

Age

23.8%

52.1% 25.1%

Under

Diploma

Diploma academic

degrees

42.2% 7.5% 3.4% 3.4%

-1

-2

0 >

35.5%

44.6% 19.2%

0.7%

20-30

31-40

41-50 51>

The tested safety signs and their

comprehension rate by the study subjects are

presented in table 2.

As the table depicts, the mean score of

correct comprehension (correct responses)

was 70.94+27.38.

Table 2: The tested safety signs and their comprehension by the study subjects

Sign

Meaning

Responses

Correct

Incorrect

Reverse

I don’t know

No response

Number

First aid

92.45

7.54

Use ear

protection

100

Arrange

correctly

45.28

47.16

1.88

3.77

1.88

Toxic

material

92.45

5.66

1.88

Biological

danger

30.18

33.96

5.66

smoking

98.11

1.88

Do not

operate the

device

35.84

54.71

3.77

5.66

Not

drinking

water

77.35

15.09

5.66

1.88

Don’t

repair

50.94

37.73

9.43

1.88

Emergency

exit

86.79

3.77

1.88

3.77

Total

Mean

37.6

70.94

10.8

20.37

0.3

0.56

3.2

6.03

1.1

2.07

Standard

deviation

14.51

27.38

10.79

20.37

0.67

1.27

5.43

10.24

1.19

2.25

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Zamanian et al

40 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

Comparison of the subjects’ comprehension

of the safety signs is shown in Figure 1. As it

can be seen, the highest and lowest rates of

correct comprehension were related to “Use

ear protection” (100%) and “Biological

danger” (30.2%) signs, respectively.

In addition, most of the incorrect responses

were related to “Do not operate the device”

(54.7%) and “Arrange correctly” (42.2%)

signs. Besides, 2 subjects had provided

reverse responses for the “Emergency exit”

sign.

Figure 1: The subjects’ comprehension of the studied safety signs

Discussion

In the present study, correct responses were

considered as the criteria for correct

comprehension of the safety signs. The

relatively high standard deviation of the

correct responses (27.38%) shows that the

comprehension of these safety signs was

significantly different from each other and

each sign has had its own specific

comprehension pattern. According to the

results, the mean of correct responses to the

studied safety signs was 70.94% which is in

agreement with the study performed by Ng et

al (3) on the Chinese students in Hong Kong.

In that study, 67.54% of the participants

answered the study safety signs correctly.

Based on the standard number ISO 3864 (22)

of the International Standard Organization

and standard number ANSI Z535.3 of ANSI

(21), the mean of correct responses to safety

signs must be at least 67% and 85% of the

study subjects, respectively.

First aid

Use ear

protection

Arrange

correctly

Toxic

material

Biological

danger

smoking

Don’t

operate the

device

Not

drinking

water

Don’t repair

Emergency

exit

No response

I don’t

know

Reverse

Incorrect

Correct

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Comprehension of workplace safety signs

41 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

The results show no significant relation

between some demographic characteristics

such as age, job and level of education with

the mean of the correct responses to safety

signs (Pval> 0.05). These results could be

existed due to the small size of the sample.

According to Table 2, the mean of correct

responses to 5 signs investigated in this

study; i.e., “First aid”, “Use ear protection”,

“Toxic material”, “No smoking” and

“Emergency exit”, was above 85%.

Therefore, they had the minimum rate of

American National Standards Institute (21).

Considering the International Standard

Organization's standards, in addition to the 5

above mentioned signs, the mean of correct

comprehension of “Not drinking water” sign

was also above 67%. Thus, the mean of

correct responses was below the acceptable

ranges in ISO 3864 and ANSI Z535.3 (21)

standards in 40% of the signs, including

“Arrange correctly”, “Biological danger”,

“Do not operate the device” and “Don’t

repair”. In the study by Ng et al., (3) the

mean of correct comprehension of 60% of

the studied safety signs was below the

acceptable ranges of ISO 3864 (22) and

ANSI Z535.3 (21) standards. Also, in the

study of Papastavrou and Lehto (14) only

5.88% and 35.29% of the study signs

satisfied the acceptable ranges of ANSI (21)

and ISO (20-22). On the other hand, Manop

conducted a study and showed that 79% of

the studied safety signs in Thailand chemical

industries achieved the acceptable criterion

of 85% (10). Yet, one other study which was

performed in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs)

of China showed that among the tested signs,

3 and 4 satisfied the acceptable ranges of

ANSI and ISO, respectively (19).

Based on what was mentioned above, it

seems that the differences, in the correct

comprehension rates of safety signs in

various studies are related to the cultural

differences, the features of the study

population, previous training and the

commonness of the sign in the study

industry.

In the present study, although the staff knew

the overall concepts of the safety signs, the

results showed that the percentage of

incorrect answers to the signs which were

less used in that industry was significantly

high. For instance, 57.4% of the study

subjects had incorrectly answered to “Do not

operate the device” sign. In other words, this

sign was not able to completely introduce

itself and had low self-explanation. This was

also the case for “Biological danger” sign

which received the lowest rate of correct

responses (30.18%) because it was quite

uncommon in the study industry. In contrast

to the other signs, the form of this sign was

also quite unfamiliar to the study subjects.

On the other hand, 98.11% of the participants

provided correct answers to “No smoking”

sign because this sign is quite common in

both the society and the workplace. Overall,

the signs which were more commonly used

in the industry had a higher comprehension

level. This is in line with the results of other

studies conducted on the issue (14, 19).

In the case that the concept of a safety sign is

reversely transferred, its utilization in safety

conditions is of utmost importance.

According to ANSI Z535.3 (21) standard, the

acceptable rate of reverse responses is 5%

and a sign with above 5% reverse responses

is considered as a confusing one. As Table 2

depicts, in this study, 2 reverse responses

(3.8%) were related to “Emergency exit”

sign and 1 (1.88%) was related to “Arrange

correctly” sign, which is within the

acceptable range of ANSI standard. In other

words, based on ISO 3864 (22) standard, the

designed safety signs were appropriate and

not confusing. In spite of the fact that the

“Emergency exit” sign is one of the main

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Zamanian et al

42 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

safety signs and all the industrial workers are

expected to be familiar with this sign, 11.4%

of the responses to this sign were incorrect,

reverse and no response and 1.9% were “I

don’t know”. This might be due to the lack of

the staff’s training regarding the meaning of

this sign. In such cases, the text is

recommended to be written under the sign.

Conclusions

The findings of the current study showed

differences in the rate of correct

comprehension of different study safety

signs. In this study, the rate of correct

comprehension of 40% of the safety signs

was below the minimum acceptable range of

ISO 3864 and ANSI Z535.3 standards. The

staff’s familiarity with the signs, training

them regarding the meanings of safety signs

and sometimes writing texts under the signs

can significantly affect their comprehension

of the signs.

Acknowledgements

The present study was financially supported

by Student Research Committee of the

research vice-chancellor of Shiraz University

of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (No; 90-

5867).

Conflict of interest: Non declared

References

1. Cox S, Jones B, Rycraft H. Behavioral

approaches to safety management within UK

reactor plants. Saf Sci 2004; 42(9): 825-39.

2. Luria G, Rafaeli A. Testing safety

commitment in organizations through

interpretations of safety artifacts. J Safety

Res 2008; 39(5):519-28.

3. Ng, AWY, Lo HWC, Chan AHS. Measuring

the usability of safety signs: A use of System

Usability Scale (SUS). Proceeding of the

International Multi Conference of Engineer

and Computer Scientists; 2011 March 16-18;

Hong Kong. IMECS 2011; 2. P1-6.

4. ISO 17724:2003 graphical symbols-

vocabulary. International Organization for

Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Available from:

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?

csnumber=33186

5. Wogalter MS, Conzola VC, Smith-Jackson

TL. Research-based guidelines for warning

design and evaluation. Appl Ergon 2002;

33(3):219-30.

6. Jorgensen F, Wentzel-Larsen T. Optimal use

of warning signs in traffic. Accid Anal Prev

1999; 31(6):729-38.

7. Piamonte DPT, Abeysekera JDA, Ohlsson K.

Understanding small graphical symbols: a

cross-cultural study. Int J Ind Ergon 2001;

27(6):399-404.

8. Edworthy J. The design and implementation

of non-verbal auditory warnings. Appl Ergon

1994; 25(4):202-10.

9. Belz SM, Robinson GS, Casali JG. A new

class of auditory warning signals for complex

systems: auditory icons. Hum Factors 1999;

41(4):608-18.

10. Chunin M. Factors determining compliance

with safety signs in industrial settings. [PhD

Thesis]. Sydney: University of New South

Wales; 2001.

11. Lehto M, Salvendy G. Warnings: a

supplement not a substitute for other

approaches to safety. Ergonomics 1995;

38(11):2155-63.

12. Chan AH, Ng AW. Effects of sign

characteristics and training methods on safety

sign training effectiveness. Ergonomics 2010;

53(11):1325-46.

Yu RF, Chan AHS, Salvendy G. Chinese

perceptions of implied hazard for signal

words and surround shapes. Human Factors

and Ergonomics in Manufacturing & Service

Industries 2004; 14(1):69-80.

13. Papastavrou JD, Lehto MR. Improving the

effectiveness of warnings by increasing the

appropriateness of their information content:

some hypotheses about human compliance.

Saf Sci 1996; 21(3):175-89.

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Comprehension of workplace safety signs

43 JOHE, Winter-spring 2013; 2 (1-2)

14. Gherardi S, Nicolini D. Learning the trade: A

culture of safety in practice. Organization

2002; 9(2):191-223.

15. Chan AHS, Han SH, Ng AWY, Park W.

Hong Kong Chinese and Korean

comprehension of American security safety

symbols. Int J Ind Ergon 2009; 39(5):835-50.

16. Arphorn S, Augsornpeug N, Srisorrachatr S,

Pruktharathikul V. Comprehension of safety

signs for construction workers: Comparison

of existing and newly designed signs. J Hum

Ergol 2003; 32(7):87-94.

17. NSC 2008. National Safety Council annual

report. National Safety Council.

Available from: http://www.nsc.org/news

18. Chan KL. Chan AHS. Understanding

industrial safety signs: implications for

occupational safety management. Industrial

Management & Data Systems 2011;

111(9):1481-510.

19. ISO 9186-1:2007. Graphic1al symbols-test

methods-part 1: Methods for testing

comprehensibility. International Organization

for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.

Available from:

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?

csnumber=41090

20. America. American National Standards

Institute. American national standard for

Criteria for safety symbols. National

Electrical Manufacturers Association.

NewYork; 2011.

21. ISO 3864-2:2004. Graphical symbols-safety

colours and safety signs-part 2: Design

principles for product safety labels.

International Organization for

Standardization. Geneva, Switzerland.

Available from:

http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail.htm?

csnumber=31020.

Downloaded from johe.rums.ac.ir at 11:37 IRDT on Wednesday June 20th 2018 [ DOI: 10.18869/acadpub.johe.2.1.2.37 ]

Safety sign comprehension of fiberboard industry employees

Article

Full-text available

May 2023

Celal Gungor

Safety signs are very important communication tools for accident prevention, fire safety, health hazard information, and emergency evacuation. They are helpful when properly designed and understood by employees. The purpose of the present study was to investigate fiberboard industry employees' understanding of safety signs. 139 participants were asked to indicate the meaning of a series of 22 commonly used safety signs. The mean comprehension score for 22 signs was 66.6% (min. 22.5% and max. 98.6%). The mean score for warning signs was the lowest, prohibition signs was the highest. Poor comprehension score (less than 40%) was noted for the toxic material, automated external heart defibrillator, overhead obstacle, and disconnect mains plug from electrical outlet signs. These low comprehension scores indicate that some symbols may not effectively convey the message to the audience. Safety practitioners and trainers should pay more attention to teach the actual meaning of those signs.

(IN)FORMAÇÃO SOBRE PICTOGRAMAS DE SUBSTÂNCIAS PERIGOSAS: (RE)CONHECER IMPACTES NO AMBIENTE E NA SAÚDE

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022

Considerando que o conhecimento dos pictogramas de substâncias perigosas é fundamental para promover atitudes que minimizem impactes no ambiente e na saúde, foi levado a cabo o trabalho que aqui se apresenta, alicerçado nos seguintes objetivos: i) avaliar o nível de perceção dos estudantes de Cursos Técnicos Superiores Profissionais de uma instituição do ensino superior sobre os pictogramas de substâncias perigosas, definidos pelo GHS, ii) compreender de que modo a estratégia formativa trabalhada com os estudantes contribuiu para a mudança conceptual sobre a interpretação dos pictogramas de substância perigosas e iii) realçar a importância do conhecimento dos pictogramas de substâncias perigosas de forma a minimizar o potencial de ocorrência de acidentes ambientais, acidentes de trabalho e de doenças profissionais. Foi analisada a compreensão destes pictogramas por parte de 669 estudantes, antes e após formação sobre o tema. A análise dos dados por pictograma em função da área de formação, idade e estatuto de trabalhador estudante ou não, foi efetuada com ferramentas de estatística descritiva e através de testes de hipóteses. Em média, o nível de compreensão correto dos pictogramas após a formação (61.19%) foi superior ao observado antes da formação (30.75%). A formação em risco químico é essencial para melhorar o nível de compreensão dos respetivos pictogramas, e deverá ser valorizada e incluída nos currículos escolares desde a escolaridade obrigatória até ao ensino superior.

Comprehension of international safety signs: A prospective technical workers context

Article

Nov 2023
INT J IND ERGONOM

An effective method for educating workers about occupational hazards is the use of safety signs in the workplace. However, workers’ understanding may vary due to factors such as cultural background, familiarity, and training. This study aimed to assess the comprehension of international safety signs among participants representing the prospective technical workforce in Indonesian industries. Two groups of participants (n = 71), comprising vocational high school students and college-level engineering students, were involved to assess their comprehension of symbol elements, comprehension of complete signs, compliance intention, and familiarity towards a selected set of international safety signs. The study revealed that the complete signs significantly increased the comprehension and compliance intention of the prospective technical workers regarding the selected signs (p < .001). However, most safety signs under the fire equipment and safe condition categories investigated in the study had low comprehension and compliance intention scores (<67%). Conversely, signs under the mandatory and warning categories generally exhibited better comprehension and compliance intention scores. Additionally, participants in the study were generally not familiar with the investigated signs (<50%). The familiarity with the signs was strongly correlated with the comprehension and compliance intention of the participants (p < .001). Relevance to industry: Understanding the findings, which revealed that the comprehension, compliance intention, and familiarity of the prospective technical worker participants with some international safety signs generally did not meet the standards, interventions such as training and redesigning the safety signs are highly recommended to minimize future adverse safety outcomes when they enter the workforce.

Neural Mechanisms behind Semantic Congruity of Construction Safety Signs: An EEG Investigation on Construction Workers

Article

Oct 2022
HUM FACTOR ERGON MAN

ERGONOMIC RISK FACTOR’S SAFETY SIGN: A REVIEW

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021

One of the risks in the workplace today is the risk of ergonomic hazards, apart from the risks of hazards that often occur such as risks of physical hazards and risks of hazards from the work environment. If the risk of physical hazards and the risk of environmental hazards already have many safety signs that are widely accepted, this is not the case with the risk of ergonomic hazards that do not yet have a validated and widely used safety sign. More fundamentally, awareness of the risks of ergonomic hazards is not fully understood by both workers and employer institutions. The method used in reviewing this paper is to enter the keywords safety sign, safety sign design, and ergonomic risk factors on google scholar and science direct.

Integration of Safety Aspects in the Maintenance Work of a Living Wall: An Overview of Practice and Challenges

Article

Jul 2021

Building maintenance is crucial to prolong a building's lifespan. Conducting the maintenance work can be dangerous, especially if it involves high-rise areas such as walls and roofs. Most literature discusses safety aspects at the construction site, while the safety aspects of maintenance work, which occur after occupancy, received less attention. This paper discusses the potential of integrating safety aspects into the maintenance work of a living wall. Living wall system (LWS) is one of the green design aspects in which the wall is designed to allow for vegetation growth. Maintenance works of a living wall involve various risks especially working in high or difficult places. This paper reviews the maintenance process and techniques adapted for maintaining the living wall through literature. This paper presents the safety practices that have the potential to reduce the risks of conducting maintenance work on the living wall and its potential challenges. It is hoped that this paper raises further awareness that work safety in construction is not only enclosed within the construction site and its vicinity, but safety should also be considered post-occupation, especially when the design demands specific maintenance requirements such as a living wall. Keywords: Safety, building maintenance, living wall, maintenance risk, green wall

Evaluating the Impact of Safety Pictogram Training on Comprehension Scores and Knowledge Retention among Engineering Students

Article

Jun 2024

Celal Gungor

Health and safety sign knowledge levels of tractor operators in agricultural productionTarımsal üretimde çalışan traktör operatörlerinin sağlık ve güvenlik işaretleri bilgi seviyeleri

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2023

Objective: Health and safety signs are critical in communicating messages about potential hazards, safe practices, emergency procedures, and regulatory guidelines. The objective of this study was to investigate the understanding of safety sign comprehension among tractor operators in Türkiye's agricultural sector. It seeks to determine operators' knowledge of occupational safety and health signs, traffic signs, and tractor safety signs. Materials and Methods: A total of 118 tractor operators from Izmir’s two districts (Menemen and Foça) were surveyed using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic information, occupational safety and health signs (ISO 7010), traffic signs (Turkish Standards for Road Traffic Signage) and tractor safety signs (ISO 11684). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean comprehension score was 37.2% for fourteen occupational safety and health signs, 34.9% for seven traffic signs, and 28.0% for ten tractor safety signs. The mean comprehension score for all signs was 33.7% Conclusion: This study shows that tractor operators poorly understand these signs. Engineering and administrative control measures, including training, should be considered to improve sign comprehension. In addition, the poorly understood signs should be revised to effectively convey the intended messages.

Implementation of safety signs in container terminal Makassar

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Nov 2022

Safety signs provide information as well as instructions concerning the hazard or dangers in the workplace. The correct comprehension of these signs is very important for doing the necessary feedback in the specific situation which are described. This study aims at hazard identification about safety sign in an effort to prevent work accident at the container terminal Makassar. This research is a qualitative-descriptive study with an observation stage using the hazard identification methods. Makassar container terminal has implemented the occupational health and safety focusing on facilities such as safety sign and personal protective equipment (PPE). From safety sign that have not been as: lack of warning sign about cargo handling for workers, the absence of warning sign place across the zebra cross for workers, lack of warning sign for workers at high altitude, and lack of understanding about the protective and safety at work. Using effective safety signs in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health standards not only helps create a safe workplace, it has the added benefit of improving morale by announcing to your employees that you are concerned for their safety. And if workers are safe, organizations are more successful.

Accidental safety factors and prevention techniques for high-rise building projects – A review

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2022

Construction is a dangerous occupation due to the unique nature of the activities involved and the repetition of several construction activities. The development of construction industry has a direct impact on the country's economy and thus plays an important role in its growth. The construction industry, on the other hand, is dangerous due to the high rate of accidents and fatalities, as evidenced by alarming accident and fatality statistics. This scenario emphasizes the importance of identifying the safety factors that contribute to accidents in high-rise building projects. As a result, the research was split into two phases. The first phase of the study was concerned with the safety factors that influence accidents in high-rise building projects, and the second phase was concerned with safety prevention techniques that can be used to mitigate the safety factors that influence accidents in high-rise building projects. In addition, a framework has been proposed to aid construction project managers in evaluating the safety factors associated with high-rise building projects. As a result, this framework established a foundation for future researchers to use in high-rise building projects.

Learning the Trade: A Culture of Safety in Practice

Article

Full-text available

May 2002
ORGANIZATION

This paper presents an ethnographic study of how safety is mastered by novices on a building site, in order to highlight the social and cultural character of learning. Adopting a situational focus, the paper explores how knowledge is acquired and transmitted, and how a culture of practice sediments and is perpetuated in the process. The paper takes the community of practices as the privileged locus of learning and transmitting practical knowledge. This study is therefore an attempt to understand in what forms and by means of what mechanisms building-site novices are socialized in the community of practices and how, within this process, the competence relative to safety and danger is learned.

Warnings: A supplement not a substitute for other approaches to safety

Article

Nov 1995
ERGONOMICS

Warnings in the workplace are analysed from the global perspective that they are not a substitute for, but rather a supplement to, good product design, employee selection, training, job design, supervision, and the provision of other forms of safety information including written procedures and checklists. An explanation is given for when and why these latter approaches will be more effective for reducing both errors and violations. Situations where warnings will be useful and further areas of research are also discussed.

Chinese perceptions of implied hazard for signal words and surround shapes

Article

Dec 2003
HUM FACTOR ERGON MAN

With the increase of international trade and communications, the issue—whether people in different cultures similarly interpret and understand the extent implied by signal words and their associated panels in warning design—is getting more and more interesting and important. Two experiments were conducted to collect data on perception of arousal strength of signal words and surround shapes of the Chinese population and to determine whether those findings for Chinese are validated for Americans. A total of 120 Chinese mainland subjects were tested in each of the experiments. In Experiment 1, 16 Chinese signal words were tested for their arousal strength. The results indicated that the words could imply different levels of hazard for the Chinese population. The comparative results revealed that both the Chinese and the Americans perceived similar levels of hazard in a signal word. In Experiment 2, six signal words and five different shapes were factorally combined to receive ratings on the perceived hazard level. Data indicated that both surround shapes and their interaction with signal words could connote different levels of hazard by the Chinese population. Their rank ordering of the shapes was found to be almost consistent with that of the Americans. Strong gender, age, and career effects were found in the two experiments. In general, there is only a minor difference in the perceived hazard for signal words and surround shapes between Chinese and American participants. However, it is suggested that care should be taken when the warning signs in facilities are designed for different populations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Hum Factors Man 14: 69–80, 2004.

Behavioural Approaches to Safety Management within UK Reactor Plants

Article

Nov 2004
SAFETY SCI

The current study is concerned with the evaluation of a process of behavioural safety within the nuclear industry. The focus of the investigation is on personal inputs to, and experiences of a behavioural safety process (BSP), over a 4-year period, rather than organisational safety performance per se. Its purpose is to describe how employees within participating UK reactor plants regard behavioural approaches to safety management. In particular, the study ad-dresses the perceived strengths and weaknesses of behavioural approaches to safety man-agement and identifies both current and future potential for individual and organisational learning. Personnel from three representative UK reactor sites and other key stakeholders partici-pated in the investigation. Several methods were utilised to gather data in relation to the study objectives, including semi-structured interviews, plant observations and questionnaires. Findings indicate a positive commitment to behavioural safety at all levels within the study organisation. Interviewees articulated a number of specific examples of individual learning and possibilities for learning enhancement. Results from the questionnaire study indicate that the BSP is embedded at all levels and within all representative sites participating in the current study. However, the issue of sustainability has been identified as a potential problem at one of the participating sites. The investigation findings are discussed in relation to existing theoretical frameworks of behavioural change.

Understanding small graphical symbols: A cross-cultural study

Article

Jun 2001
INT J IND ERGONOM

Graphical symbols such as icons or pictograms as interfaces in modern technological devices have become quite common. Although generally designed in western countries, their use can be found worldwide from audio-visual appliances to computers and computer-related devices. A basic ergonomic principle is to involve the potential users in the design and evaluation stages especially when the user groups are quite diverse. This study was part of an international project on evaluating telecommunication symbols. One of the major objectives was to test different graphical symbols (of the videophone), designed, and tested in Western Europe using subject groups from Asia, Europe, and the United States. This paper would discuss the major portions of the tests involving US and Swedish subjects. Performance indices used were hits, certainties, confusions, and semantic differential ratings. They were useful in analysing how the symbols were recognised, confused, and perceived by different subject groups. They also helped detect differences between groups which otherwise seemed to have similar test results. The results showed differences in patterns of ratings, which may be culturally linked and could help determine aspects of symbol design and usage that may be more helpful in designing instructions, learning aids, etc. Awareness of such subject bias and their implications are important on how one interprets the test results.Relevance to industryThe study outcome can be very helpful for industries in designing and evaluating candidate graphical symbols across various types of consumer products for worldwide use.

Hong Kong Chinese and Korean comprehension of American security safety symbols

Article

Sep 2009
INT J IND ERGONOM

This research evaluated Hong Kong Chinese and Korean comprehension of American security safety symbols, and how successfully they could guess the meaning of the symbols in relation to their ratings of the appropriateness of the design of each of the symbols. Symbol comprehension scores, symbol guessing scores, design appropriateness ratings, and demographic information were obtained for 81 Hong Kong Chinese and 60 Koreans. For all the symbols tested, comprehension scores for the Hong Kong Chinese and Koreans were much lower than for Americans. The finding that Americans were better at interpreting American symbols than Hong Kong Chinese and Koreans indicates that problems are likely to arise if such symbols are used by non-Americans. Gender did not affect guessing performance, and success at guessing symbols was not related to the subjective ratings of design appropriateness for the symbols. The findings here reveal the importance of developing security safety symbols with the end users in mind.Relevance to industryDesigning effective pictorial security safety symbols to cover the many potential situations and scenarios for a specific population is a difficult business. The findings of this study underline the importance of developing security safety symbols with the end users in mind. The results provide useful information to assist in the design of more user-friendly security safety symbols.

Improving the effectiveness of warnings by increasing the appropriateness of their information content: Some hypotheses about human compliance

Article

May 1996
SAFETY SCI

The ways that warnings are administered vary greatly. A warning may come as a message broadcast on the radio about severe weather, as a flashing light in the cockpit of an airplane, or as an audible smoke alarm. Typically, warnings provide an auditory or visual signal to assist in the detection of an anticipated stimulus. However, warnings tend to operate in an all or none mode: either the warning is present, or it is not. Consequently, the information they provide is limited. If warnings are provided too often, their information content becomes even lower and frequent false alarms render them ineffective because of the “cry-wolf” effect. On the other hand, if warnings are not administered frequently enough, they result in too many potentially costly misses. In this conceptual paper, it is argued that the effectiveness of warnings might be significantly improved if warnings are made more “intelligent” by providing information about the likelihood of the occurrence of the stimulus. Several representative cases are discussed and analyzed in order to demonstrate the advantages of the proposed methods.

Understanding industrial safety signs: Implications for occupational safety management

Article

Sep 2011
IND MANAGE DATA SYST

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the understanding of industrial safety signs and messages by registered and non‐registered safety officers in Hong Kong with ten different user factors, and examine the relationship between cognitive sign features and sign comprehensibility. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology includes the survey development and appropriate statistical analyses. In total, 92 Hong Kong Chinese participated voluntarily in the study. A questionnaire survey was used to collect information about demographics, personal experience on safety and health issues, experience of reviewing safety sign information, comprehension scores, and the ratings of sign features for 30 industrial safety signs used in Hong Kong. The effect of ten user factors on sign understanding for the design of highly usable safety signs was examined. Findings Of the ten factors tested, only the factor of possession of registered safety officer (RSO) status was a significant predictor of comprehension performance. As expected, comprehension scores varied with the cognitive sign features of familiarity, concreteness, simplicity, and meaningfulness. Research limitations/implications The currently used industrial safety signs should be redesigned as soon as possible, with careful consideration of cognitive sign features. To make the results more generally applicable, further research is needed to collect more data, particularly from females. Practical implications This research suggests that an effective education program for promoting the intended messages of industrial safety signs in various industries and work environments should be conducted as soon as possible. Safety officers, especially those who work in the construction industry need to play a more prominent role in ensuring workplace safety, and in transferring safety knowledge to the workers. Social implications There is a need to enhance RSOs' risk perception and to increase awareness of the importance of safety signs through training programs, so as to improve workplace safety and organizational safety culture. The redesigned safety signs need to be launched with a public education program. Originality/value The paper's findings emphasize the need to create awareness of the importance of industrial safety and promote understanding of safety sign meanings amongst people in their work environments. Useful information for the design and use of safety signs was generated.

Effects of sign characteristics and training methods on safety sign training effectiveness

Article

Nov 2010
ERGONOMICS

This study investigated whether or not training methods affected the effectiveness of symbol training and if there were any relationships between sign symbol characteristics and training effectiveness. Altogether, 26 Mainland China industrial safety signs were used and 60 participants were randomly assigned into four equal-sized groups of control, paired-associate learning, recall training and recognition training. The result was that participants from all the training groups showed significantly greater improvement in comprehension performance than those in the control group, indicating that the training methods improved comprehension of the meaning of safety signs. Participants from the recall training group performed better in the post-training test than those from other training groups. It seems that the recall task elicited a deeper level of learning than the recognition task and that questioning and feedback had a positive effect on training effectiveness. The results also showed that sign characteristics had no significant influence on training effectiveness. It was concluded that recall training is more effective in enhancing comprehension of industrial safety signs than paired-associate learning or recognition training. The findings of this study provide a basis for useful guidelines for designing symbol-training programmes and for designing more user-friendly safety signs. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The present study shows that recall training was more effective in improving comprehension of industrial safety signs than paired-associate learning or recognition training and cognitive sign features did not influence training effectiveness. They provide a basis for useful guidelines for designing symbol-training programmes and for designing more user-friendly safety signs.

Testing safety commitment in organizations through interpretations of safety artifacts

Article

Feb 2008
J SAFETY RES

Safety culture relates to injuries and safety incidents in organizations, but is difficult to asses and measure. We describe a preliminary test of assessing an organization's safety culture by examining employee interpretations of organizational safety artifacts (safety signs). We collected data in three organizations using a new safety culture assessment tool that we label the Safety Artifact Interpretation (SAI) scale; we then crossed these data with safety climate and leadership evaluations. SAI were interpreted by employees in accordance with two conceptually distinct themes that are salient in the literature on organizational safety culture: safety compliance and commitment to safety. A significant correlation exists between SAI scores and the organizational safety climate. A similar (though insignificant) relationship was observed between SAI scores and leadership ratings. Employee perceptions and interpretations of safety artifacts can facilitate assessments of safety culture and can ultimately lead to understanding of and improvements in the level of organizational safety.