Safety Label Trends Discussed by Clarion Safety Systems as It Celebrates 25 Year Anniversary
Milford, PA (PRWEB) February 19, 2015 -- Clarion Safety Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of safety signs and safety labels, is celebrating its 25 year anniversary this month. February 28 marks a quarter century since the company’s incorporation. With this landmark, the company has identified what it sees as the three major trends – milestones that it has been a part of – in product safety labeling.
“As the premier company in this field for over two decades, Clarion is in a unique position to be able to provide insight on the developments that have occurred,” says Geoffrey Peckham, CEO of Clarion Safety Systems. “Our involvement on the U.S. and international standards committees is at the leadership level. Perhaps nowhere else in the world is there more safety sign and label expertise, across so many industries and products, than here at Clarion.”
In addition to founding Clarion, as an industry innovator and thought leader, Peckham has led and continues to lead U.S. and international efforts to harmonize safety standards in this field; this includes contributing to the leadership and direction of ANSI, ISO, OSHA and NFPA safety codes as they relate to communicating safety in the form of signs, labels and markings.
Clarion’s long-term standards leadership informs the design of its products, allowing the company to meet the needs of product manufacturers and facility owners with up-to-date, standards-compliant signage.
With this knowledge and history, Clarion has compiled an overview, below, of the three major trends it’s seen in product safety labeling over the past 25 years.
TOP 3 TRENDS IN SAFETY LABELING
1. Availability and use of a U.S. best practice standard: The publication of the groundbreaking ANSI Z535.4 Standard for Product Safety Signs and Labels in 1991 was a milestone event for both product users and product manufacturers. For the first time, a standard existed that gave product manufacturers a viable framework to develop the content and format of their product safety labels. The ANSI Z535.4 standard defined a set of components for on-product warnings that provided people with the information they needed to avoid hazards – and provided manufacturers and U.S. courts with a legal definition for what constituted an “adequate warning.” When used correctly, labels developed to meet the standard help to reduce accidents associated with products and, if an accident does occur, they help to reduce the product manufacturer’s liability exposure should the adequacy of the warning be challenged.
2. Development and use of a global best practice standard: The publication in 2004 of the international standard in safety labeling, ISO 3864-2 Graphical symbols – Safety colours and safety signs, gave guidelines to manufacturers in nearly all industries for their product safety labels. These rules allowed their warnings (and products) to be accepted globally. This standard represented a major victory for harmonization in the field of safety communication as it included formats that were already established in the ANSI Z535.4 standard.
3. Use of ISO graphical symbols: Product safety labels need to communicate their information efficiently and effectively. In today’s global marketplace, the use of standardized ISO safety symbols is the third major trend in product safety labeling. A huge ISO standardization effort has been underway this past decade to establish a worldwide visual language of graphical symbols to be used on safety signs, labels and markings. This work has been of tremendous benefit to product manufacturers because symbols can overcome language barriers – a key attribute for a global economy and workforce.
“Nearly every activity in business and in our personal lives involves risk. Though risk can never be zeroed out, our aim has to be to reduce it whenever possible. That’s the role safety signs and labels play for workplaces and products,” says Peckham. “The good news is that the key trends we’ve identified, above, all have had a significant, positive impact on improving safety for the thousands of companies and hundreds of industries we’ve served over the past 25 years. The ultimate goal for all of our clients is one that we’re privileged to be a part of: preventing accidents and saving lives from tragedy. I look forward to seeing the global impact of our work to reduce risk and protect people for years to come.”
To learn more about Clarion and its history in visual safety communication, visit the company's website.
ABOUT CLARION SAFETY SYSTEMS
Clarion Safety Systems, LLC, is the leading designer and manufacturer of visual safety solutions that help customers in more than 180 industries worldwide to make their products and premises safer. Clarion offers a full range of standard and custom products including machinery safety labels, environmental and facility safety signs, pipe and valve identification markings, lockout/tagout products, and safety-grade photoluminescent egress path-marking escape systems. Founded in 1990, the company continues to play a leading role in the development and writing of international and national standards for safety signs, labels, and markings. Clarion is headquartered at 190 Old Milford Road in Milford, PA, 18337, and online at http://www.clarionsafety.com.
Erin Earley, Clarion Safety Systems, http://www.clarionsafety.com, +1 570-296-5686 Ext: 228, [email protected]
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