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Labels for Safety, Visuals and Facility ID Desktop Printers
Labels for Product, Wire and Lab ID Benchtop Printers
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Ex: M210, 99048, SDPL-RED-38ST-KD6
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Safety and Facility ID Desktop Printers
Product, Wire and Lab ID Benchtop Printers
Barcode Scanner and Printer Kits
Barcode Scanner and Printer Kits
PaintStripe Floor Marking Stencils
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Pipe Marker Accessories & Mounting Brackets
Maintenance and Production Tags
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People-centric labeling solutions for a safe and productive workplace
Signs and labels help employees safely navigate the workplace. Product and equipment labels alert users to potentially hazardous substances or energy, while workplace signage tells employees how to safely navigate the space around them. Even small adjustments, like adding a stop sign near a high-traffic area, can significantly improve employee safety and cut down on accidents.
Between 2021 and 2022, there were 674,100 reported slip, fall or trip cases, along with 658,240 cases of exposure to harmful substances or environments. Increased signage about potential slip conditions and better labeling of harmful chemicals could have reduced these injuries. This has a direct impact on production, as 96.3% of cases involving exposure to harmful substances led to at least one day away from work.
Good labeling and signage can have a big impact on your business, but you might need to move beyond traditional labels for your messages to be effective. Learn more about people-centric labeling and how to adopt it.
The pitfalls of traditional labeling
Most businesses follow industry standards and compliance guidelines when they create labels. These labels are meant to create standardization across industries. The layouts are unified across all hazards and employees can use the same systems from one company to the next.
However, there are some pitfalls to using these traditional labels. From a functional standpoint, issues can arise if labels are handwritten or use materials not suitable for their environment. From a personnel perspective, team members aren’t always clear about what they mean and new employees need to be trained on how to read the labels. These processes are also only effective if companies follow them. If a business fails to keep up with labeling standards or uses low-quality labels that fall off, they aren’t setting employees up to follow them successfully.
Look at the use of wire marking labels as an example. These markers are meant to tell employees what each cable is used for and if any electrical hazards come with handling it. If a company doesn’t choose the right type of cable labels, they could fall off or become unreadable due to regular use. This slows down the work of employees who can’t identify certain cables while also creating unsafe working conditions if the cables aren’t handled properly.
Modern workplaces are prioritizing labels and moving beyond traditional compliance regulations. Following industry best practices is a good start, but you might want to move toward more advanced label and signage options to protect your team members and ultimately your bottom line.
Prioritizing the needs of your employees
Regardless of your company size, industry or location, you have a diverse workforce. You have team members who speak different languages, have unique learning needs and have different experience levels. People-centric labeling allows you to accommodate all of your employees to meet their safety needs. It is clear, concise and intuitive.
Consider the poor cable labeling example used earlier. A company can make troubleshooting and cable management easier simply by color coding cables intuitively and bundling similar cables together. Even before a team member reads the labels, they can seek out the cables they need.
People-centric labeling often utilizes multiple processes and systems for safety. While color labeling, according to the TIA-606-C standard, may help the majority of your employees, they can frustrate people who experience color blindness. To support these staff members, use a cable label printer and print labels with additional information.
Effective labeling often uses a combination of color coding, standardized placement and clear images or lettering to communicate with all team members in multiple ways. It is sometimes better to over-communicate hazards to keep your team safe.
Ideas for people-centric labeling
There are multiple ways to accommodate your workforce and consider their unique needs. You might work with multilingual staff, people with disabilities or entry-level employees who are still learning on the job. Good labeling can support all of these team members and keep them safe. Here are a few things to consider.
Multilingual labeling
One in five Americans speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census. Your company might have a few multilingual employees or several workers who speak a variety of languages. Consider your workforce when you create labels. Utilizing an industrial label printer to create labels in two languages, particularly if there is a prominent second language among your staff could be helpful.
Not only will multilingual labeling improve your communication with employees, but it will also show how you support them. Your staff can feel valued and comfortable working in their primary language.
Culturally relevant symbols
Some safety symbols are universal, while others have different meanings from one culture to the next. While you are updating the languages of your labels, consider the symbols you use. While following compliance best practices, decide if other symbols might improve the understanding of their employees. You can also accompany these symbols with text to further avoid confusion.
Accessible and inclusive design
Accessible design accommodates people with disabilities. For example, people who experience color blindness often cannot differentiate between blue and purple. If you use a blue label to indicate safety and purple to indicate a hazard, your employees who are color-blind will have a hard time.
Conversely, inclusive designs accommodate people who have different backgrounds or experiences. Both are important in your signage and labeling.
You can make your labels more accessible by using multiple indicators. A color or logo might convey information and then text underneath can emphasize it. This supports the needs of all employees.
These designs are also inclusive. For example, visitors to your workplace might not be familiar with different color meanings or logos. The text instructions translate the indicators for them.
Tiered information
Your employees may have different levels of comprehension, or may not always have time to decipher an entire label. This is where tiered information comes in. The most important thing that someone needs to know is prominently displayed on the label. Additional information is added from high to low priority levels.
For example, a hazardous chemical label might have a large image of a flame on it with the word “danger” written across the container. This immediately conveys to the user that the chemical is dangerous and flammable. Other information, like how to use the chemical safely and seek medical treatment if exposed to it, is displayed in a smaller font.
Consider the various tiers of information as you update your labeling system.
Employee participation
Designing a people-centric labeling program is only the first step in this process. You also need to train your team members on how to use it and get buy-in to continue adopting the new protocols in the future.
One way to get your team members excited about the new system is to involve them in the development process. Invite them to share their ideas for better labeling based on what they have experienced. You can listen to their concerns and come up with ways to solve their problems. You can also tap into other listening tools like surveys and anonymous feedback forms to learn how your safety standards can improve.
Once you have the new labeling process in place, train and retrain your staff so they know how to use it.
Practical tips for safe and productive labeling
Along with embracing people-centric labels, you can also take steps to improve your labeling practices to make them safer, easier to read and more efficient. The investments you make in good labeling now can protect your staff and workplace for years to come. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
- Invest in easy-to-use wrap-around labels: These tags are easy to use, which means broken or missing labels will be replaced faster. Wrap around wire labels are also durable and allow you to convey all the information you need.
- Look into heat-shrink labels and printers: If your labels frequently wear out, upgrade to a heat shrink label printer and heat-shrink labels that are more durable. These high-performance labels will stay clear and last longer.
- Reduce waste with magnetic labels: If you frequently have to peel off and replace labels to track inventory, invest in magnet options. These labels are durable, flexible and reusable.
- Consider using label-making software: The right label-making software will help you create labels quickly and manage their use across your organization. You can quickly replace worn-out labels to reduce the safety hazards within your company.
People-centric labeling means accommodating your team members so they stay safe. It often requires companies to go beyond compliance regulations and provide additional details and warnings to team members. However, if these extra steps cut down on the number of workplace injuries, they are worth it. Small label changes can have a big impact on employee safety.
