Borrowing words from Willie Nelson, safety should be something that is always on our mind. This state of mindfulness means that everything we do, whether inside or outside of the workplace, needs to happen with safety in mind. With so many things competing for our attention, recognition, awareness and action, safety is often not top-of-mind in actual practice, though it is a high priority in virtually every organization.
The question is, how can we keep safety top-of-mind for ourselves, our workplaces and our communities? What do we need to do to make safety mindfulness a habit, so that it’s always on our minds?
Habits are formed through repetition, either intentionally or unintentionally. Intentionally forming a habit through repetition is aided by cues, often visual as well as auditory cues. Visual cues are one of the main ways that a habit of safety mindfulness is formed. We get visual cues from words, images, symbols, colors and shapes. One of the most obvious examples of a visual safety cue is a stop sign, which incorporates all of these visual cues.
When you think about it, labels incorporate all of these visual elements as well. In fact, labels are one of the most flexible, efficient and effective ways to promote safety messaging and help form the habit of safety mindfulness, where safety is always on our mind. Labels can be applied to almost any surface, including stationary as well as mobile objects. Products of all kinds from consumer products to industrial use products are clearly labeled to provide consumers and workers throughout the entire value chain with instant, readily accessible safety information:
- Instructions for safe transport, storage and use of the product
- Safety hazards associated with the product
- Instructions about what to do “in the event of” any occurrence that poses a safety risk or hazard to anyone handling or using the product.
To a great degree, the required messaging for a particular product or situation is dictated by regulatory requirements, which can be promulgated by any level of government from federal to state and local. Regulations are prone to frequent change which means that the messaging is also subject to change. This in turn places a burden on companies to stay in compliance. Labels give companies a flexible and agile way to control safety messaging and keep their messaging up-to-date.
Digital, on-demand, on-premise labeling solutions from Brandywine Label Printing, help empower our customers to ensure that their safety messaging is efficiently and effectively delivered and that it is always in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Contact us to learn more – we would love to hear from you!