S1 Ep11: Mighty Line Minute | OSHA Safety Color Standards

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Greetings everyone and welcome back to Mighty Line Minute! This is Dave. I'll be covering color again. Last week we discussed the importance of color, and what it means to our own health and well-being. Today, we'll jump into the standards. More specifically, we'll start with OSHA. And in the coming weeks, we'll talk about other standards that relate to color. Stay tuned!
We commonly think of color from what we know and what we see. Think about red for flammable liquid storage cans, gasoline containers. or red for stop signs, yellow for yield signs. The color green used for medical oxygen and medical oxygen tanks.
But then we get into the workplace, and in the work environment oftentimes people wonder: “What does OSHA require?” Or we hear “Use this OSHA color." Is it really an OSHA color? We're going to talk about that for a moment, and what OSHA does say about color.
One of the most common areas where OSHA requires a color is that in 1910.144 involving the use of hazardous equipment and machinery. There it refers to the use of red for the color of stop buttons, stop devices, and stop bars for such machinery. And in that same section, OSHA also requires that red be used for certain fire protection equipment. Examples include fire alarm pull stations, fire extinguishers, and other fire protection equipment.
In that same section 1910.144, Safety Marking For Physical Hazards, OSHA says the following about the color yellow:
“Yellow shall be the basic color for designating caution and for marking physical hazards, such as striking against, stumbling, falling, tripping, and caught in between.”
And if you look deep enough, for example in 1910.261, which is pulp and paperboard mills, you'll see that yellow is required for booms on cranes.
If you move back further into Subpart J which is “General Environmental Controls,” you'll find recommendations from OSHA for signs and tags. Some of those are as follows:
Danger signs and tags: red background with white lettering.
Caution signs: black background with yellow lettering.
Safety instruction signs: green background with white lettering with additional information on a white background with black lettering.
Directional signs, other than automotive traffic signs, with a black panel and a white directional signal with additional lettering black on a white background.
For hand signaling or flaggers, there are specific colors required to be worn.
For example. those colors would be orange, yellow, or strong yellow-green in a vest or shirt or jacket. And for nighttime work, such garments might also include a reflective white or a gray in addition to the reflective requirements for evening use.
Biological hazard signs or tags require fluorescent orange or orange-red background with contrasting lettering.
While you won't find much from OSHA to help you in the area of compressed gas cylinder coloring, you can go to the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) and get their viewpoint on color. Specifically, the Compressed Gas Association recommends the use of a printed word for cylinders, such as labels or tags attached to the shoulder of the cylinder or on the side.
Next week we'll get into the ANSI Safety Standard for Color. That will be the most important standard that we'll pay attention to in the series ahead, other than discussing the ISO standard, International Standards Organization, Safety Standard for Color.
But that's an important area for all of us to spend some time on. Because you won't find all that you need to know in OSHA. But you will find it here. We look forward to talking to you in the weeks ahead. And in the meantime, take a look at mightylinetape.com for your use of color as it relates to floor striping and signage.
Take care, have a Mighty day.
Dave Tabar
MightyLineTape.com