Clarion’s Distinct Take on Being a Safety Sign Company
Posted by Geoffrey Peckham | 9th Aug 2017
A safety sign is a safety sign is a safety sign. Not true. Clarion’s existence is predicated on just the opposite conclusion. Not all safety signs are created equal.
You might think this is not a subject worth talking (or reading) about, but in very real terms, it could mean the difference between life and death for you or someone you work with. So read on.
The safety sign industry is populated by companies who have sold and are selling the same cookie-cutter accident prevention sign designs they’ve promoted for decades. Nearly all of what they sell falls into one of two categories:
- Signs based on a 1941-era standard (ANSI Z35.1 – 1941), or
- Sign designs they’ve created based on no standards
This would be fine and good if the safety signs they sold were comparable in what they communicated and how they communicated it to safety signs designed to meet today’s standards. But their signage doesn’t do this, not by a long shot. Knowing this difference – the difference between compliance with old standards and compliance with new standards – and being able to create safety sign systems for customers that embody today’s warnings technology, that’s what sets Clarion apart as a safety sign company.
It’s not difficult to see the difference between what others in the industry sell and what Clarion offers our customers. Compare the examples below.
Clarion signs contain content that typically helps the viewer to both understand the hazard and how to avoid it. We also use signal words that are in line with today’s risk assessment methodologies. And we use graphical symbols to instantly convey safety messages across language barriers.
Our signs help our customers accurately communicate and reduce risk; other company’s safety signs are typically only a means to comply with minimum 1970’s-era OSHA regulations. (Note that Clarion signs also meet the need to comply with OSHA, since in 2013 OSHA adopted into their regulations the ability to use the newer ANSI Z535 standards that are written by the standards committee I currently chair.) There’s a big difference here, and it’s a difference that speaks to the desire companies have: either they want to use “best practices” to do the best job possible to communicate and reduce risk so people are better protected from harm, or they want to do the minimum that’s required to keep OSHA satisfied. Clarion safety sign systems are sold to companies who fall into the first category; outdated, generic products are sold by others to those who fall into the second bucket.
For more information about Clarion’s state-of-the-art safety sign systems, contact us. We promptly respond to all inquiries with the best service possible. If you prefer to call us, know that a Clarion compliance expert based out of our headquarters in Milford, PA will be answering the phone. Helping organizations reduce risk and protect people is more than a slogan for us; it’s our mission, our reason for existence. And know that you’ll be joining the ranks of thousands of Clarion customers in hundreds of industries, customers who take safety seriously.
Geoffrey Peckham
CEO, Clarion Safety Systems
This blog is part of a series of regular posts from our CEO, Geoffrey Peckham, to share his insight. Geoffrey serves as chair of the ANSI Z535 Committee for Safety Signs and Colors, chair of the U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 145 – Graphical Symbols, and is chair-elect for ISO/TC 145. He is a member of the U.S. TAG to ISO/PC 283, the committee writing a new standard, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, which, when finished, will define global best practices for managing workplace safety. In addition, he is an active member of many industry-specific standards committees related to safety signs and labels for buildings, ships, machinery and products.