What are the best visual aids for enhancing safety communication in the workplace?

Managers must lead by what they do. Employees see this and respond more to what they see- not by what managers say! This is most important. Also, praise is more powerful than punishment!

Sign, symbol, colour coding done right could have save many disasters in the past. This has a very important role to play in ‘proper identification’ of equipment, line, track, etc before acting upon. They need to be universally common and standard to create the right set of understanding. In road safety it has huge implications and so is in the process industry. Extremely important to set this right, communicate effectively, have a program on assurance.

Be aware of SIGN BLINDNESS while designing and implementing awareness and communication programs/intervention’s. This will improve effectiveness of communication

Visual communication is a game-changer for workplace safety and signs & symbols are the foundation. Clear, standardized visuals ensure that safety messages are universally understood.

Safety signs and symbols are the most common and basic visual aids for safety communication. They are used to warn, inform, or instruct workers about specific hazards, rules, or actions. Signs and symbols can be displayed on walls, doors, workplace,machines, equipment, or containers. They can use colors, shapes, pictograms,

Most useful for generic information dissemination over a longer time frame. But the posters are also useful when used to explain the concept thru ‘less words, more pictures/images’ Today no one wants to spend time reading. We normally start and immediately move to the end skipping important steps in between. Pictorial representation works better as one can visualise the concept which makes it easier to learn and adopt.

Lead By Example. I believe the best visual for employees to assimilate the intended safety information to be communicated would be the practice of the same message by the top management in this way the management commitment will be also better communicated. Lead by Example by persons looked up to, is the best way to imbibe the Safety message in to the behaviour of employee and best visual & congnitive influence to communicate safety messages. By embodying the safety message themselves, leaders can inspire and influence employees to make safety a top priority in their daily work practices. This approach helps create a strong safety culture that permeates throughout the organization and contributes to the well-being of everyone involved.

Posters and charts are powerful tools for diving deeper into safety topics. They're not just informative but also serve as constant reminders. Placing them in high-traffic areas ensures that safety messages stay top of mind.

Safety posters are?one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase communications consistency, while reinforcing your key safety messages. They help improve retention of those messages and also raise awareness of your commitment to safety.

To boost safety communication at work, go for helpful visuals like straightforward safety posters, easy-to-understand infographics, instructive videos, and clear safety signs. Use colors wisely to indicate different hazard levels, and make sure emergency exit maps are readily available.

In this era, Digital method works better in transferring information precisely, accurately, faster and makes it language agnostic. One can learn from how digital media was used during COViD management. With the widespread use of data thru phone or otherwise, nothing works faster in disseminating info. It also helps an individual learn at his/her own pace and time.

Videos and animations are the visual maestros of safety communication. They create a narrative that stays with the audience. Short, engaging & accessible videos ensure that safety education is not just a message but an experience.

This method can be effectively benefit to the employer and employees. It can be a short awareness videos or it can be a long educational videos which require interaction with the viewers (include quizzes and open-ended question where we need participants to discuss on the topics). One of my favorite learning videos is Learning From Incident Videos.

Texts should be in local language which makes a greater impact to employees . This makes an imprint in the minds of all employees and makes hazard sensitive each and every time when they move at their respective workplaces.

Proper labelling, posters showing the differences between near miss, unsafe condition & unsafe act, motivational wallpapers on phones and desktops can bring good change in the working environment.

Safety Labels and tags are used?to prevent accidental injury or illness to employees who are exposed to hazardous conditions that may be unexpected or not readily apparent. They shall be used only until the identified hazard is eliminated or the hazardous operation is completed.

Mostly useful in boardroom and management level conversation. Also helps in creating healthy competition showing trends and what best looks like. Infographics are a great medium to engage a large audience

While infographics and dashboards are great however it should ultimately provide ACCURATE information on effectiveness of risk controls !! . Accuracy and integrity of numbers/information remains a challenge.

Games and simulations make safety learning practical and tangible. They provide a hands-on approach that goes beyond theory, ensuring that workers can apply safety knowledge in real-world situations.

from the observations at my site, I would recommend this sessions at site. - Include online games i.e., slido at the end of the awareness sessions so we can measure their understanding on the topics - Simulation session prior the awareness sessions. For example, request one of the workers to simulate how he/she used the tools. And request other workers to evaluate if he/ she used the tools in a safe way. This method could help us to evaluate their work practice before we share our inputs.

One more very effective way of communicating is use of ‘Street Play’ on various topics. We have done this effectively across our sites and this has helped immensely in making one understand a concept thru role play. It is fun and engaging at the same time. Yes, it needs some effort to write a script, create a drama, need some good people to act and deliver the message as intended. In my experience all this was easily done at the workplace itself consistently on various topics. The feedback has been very motivating.