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Label Safety

Safety labels or hazard warning labels are an important part of the health and safety controls provided on equipment to warn personnel of potential hazards associated with the equipment. Hazard warning labels should be used when hazards have not been eliminated from equipment through other means (e.g., a complete enclosure of the hazard to prevent exposure) and the potential for exposure to the hazards is still present. This applies both to hazards which can be present at all times during normal operating conditions and hazards which may be present only during specific conditions. Hazard warning labels should be used for the variety of hazards that can be present in equipment including the following:

Electrical

Moving parts

Chemical

Hot surfaces

Non-ionizing radiation

Lasers

The selection of the specific labels to be used will depend on the types of hazards present in the equipment.

Typically four basic issues related to the use of hazard warning labels are addressed by Earth Tech Microelectronics:

When are labels required?

Where labels should be placed?

What format is required?

What language is required?

When Are Labels Required?

In general, labels are not an acceptable substitute for removing or controlling the hazard to safe levels with engineering controls. Labels should be provided as an additional warning when exposure to a hazard is possible during operations, maintenance or service, or other uses of the equipment. As an example, if a maintenance task requires removing a guard, which provides protection against moving parts, the guard should be labeled because of the potential for injury from the moving parts. In this case, the hazard is only present when the guard is removed. If a hazard is present at all times during normal operating conditions, the portion of the equipment where the hazard is present should be labeled. Where Should Labels Be Placed? If a guard or barrier is used to provide protection against a hazard, the labels should be placed on the barrier, guard, cover or part that must be opened or removed to gain access to the hazard. If there are several layers of barriers (e.g., outer skin and interior guard), the label should be placed on the last barrier to be removed before reaching the hazardous area.

Some examples of this are listed below:

Electrical panel access cover or door. The label should be placed on the panel cover or door which would allow exposure to electrical hazards when opened,

A guard over a moving parts hazard. The label should be placed on the last guard or cover which must be removed in order to access the moving parts,

Where equipment contains hazardous or potentially hazardous materials (e.g. chemicals, lasers, X-ray sources) a warning label should be placed on the outside of the equipment to indicate the hazard(s) contained within.

The label should be placed on the equipment where it is most likely to be noticed by personnel who will be working with the equipment and could be exposed to the hazard. This should take into account the following:

Direction from which personnel will approach the area of the equipment where the hazard is present. If access is only possible from the rear of the equipment, the label should be placed on the rear of the equipment where personnel will work or access the equipment

Posture of the person when removing the guard or performing tasks that involve the potential for exposure. If a task requires that a person sit on the ground in order to remove a guard or cover, the label should be placed on the guard or cover where it would be easily seen when sitting on the ground or when approaching the equipment for this task

If the hazard is present in the equipment at all times during normal operating conditions, the label should be placed in an area where it can easily be seen by personnel working with the equipment and near the location of the hazard. This should take into account the location where personnel will be when working with the equipment. Thus, if the hazard can be accessed from both front and back, labels will be needed for both the front and rear of the equipment.

What Format Is Required?

The basic format that all hazard warning labels should follow is based upon the US American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard which requires three levels of information and formatting:

A pictogram / graphic showing what the hazard is,

A signal word (Danger, Warning, Caution) based upon the hazard level,

Text describing the hazard, the potential hazardous outcome and the precautions to avoid the hazard

The definitions of the signal words from the ANSI standard are summarized below:

CAUTION: The hazard may result in minor or moderate injury.

WARNING: A potentially hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury.

DANGER: An imminent hazard which, if not avoided, will result in death or serious injury.

As an example, the format for an electrical hazard warning label would be the following:

Pictogram: Picture of electrical symbol

Signal Word Warning

Text: Hazardous Voltage Contact May Cause Electric Shock or Burn Turn off and lock out system before servicing

The best format for hazard warning labels is based upon an approach that meets both the ANSI (ANSI Z535.1 to 535.5 - "Labeling and Marking) and the European Standard (IEC 61310 - "Safety of Machinery - Indication, Marking and Activation).

What Language Is Required?

The primary base label should be displayed in English. A secondary "word-only" label should be applied next to the primary English label if translation to another language is required. The objective is to ensure that warning is communicated to all employees who could access or operate the equipment in their primary language. For example, equipment in Thailand would be labeled in English and Thai; equipment in Malaysia would be labeled in English and Malay. Since the primary language in Singapore is English, a secondary label would not be required.