OSHA Standard 1910.145 is one of the most fundamental OSHA safety standards, and is beyond mandatory for you to understand if you want to stay compliant. Here it is. This rule is extremely important and, like most things OSHA, somewhat difficult to fully understand. That’s why we are here, to help you understand these standards and stay in compliance. We dedicate our lives to understanding these codes.

This standard basically clarifies the styles, colors, edges, word usage, and placement of safety signs in your workplace. A sign incorrectly designed or out of place can mean, from a practical sense, an employee getting hurt or being unprepared for a dangerous environment, which can bring OSHA knocking at your door. If OSHA does come knocking, an out of place or misprinted sign can mean a citation or fine, depending on the sign and how egregious the error.

So, what are the specifics of this standard? For starters, make sure your signs are uniform. Beyond that, make sure your signs are in the right places – so, danger signs go where there is immediate danger, caution signs go where there is a need to warn against potential hazards, and biological hazard signs are used when there is either a present or potential presence of a biohazard. Finally, check their borders to make sure they are rounded or blunted, and that you have the correct color scheme. If anything seems incorrect to you, take it down and replace it. With OSHA, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

So, what are you supposed to do if you feel your signs are either incorrect or missing? Check out our printed signs and sleep easy knowing that you have uniform, correctly coded signs for your workplace. If you are worried your signs are out of date and may no longer be up to code, just look them up in our link, and compare them to your own. Trust me, it is far better to replace a few signs now, than have unnecessary injuries in the workplace and citations from OSHA.