Evaluation of the Perception of Workplace Safety Signs and Effective Factors

Safety signs in the workplace are effective inthe controlling of workplace hazards. Correct interpretation of signs is vital,preventing injury and saving lives. This study seeks to assess the perceptionof workplace safety signs and determine effective personal factors incomprehension. The current analytical-descriptive study was carried out in 2012on 166 factory workers in 4 factories at the Khoramdasht and Bumehen industrialareas. Data was gathered using ISO 9186 and Demographic Informationquestionnaires. Stratified – random method was used for sampling and data wereanalyzed with Kendal statistical test using SPSS 16. General perception ofsafety signs was 69.22% with a standard deviation of 20.32%. Out of the 11signs studied, the “eye protection must be worn” and “hand protection must beworn” signs had the highest effective perception and the “wear face shield” hadthe lowest. Results show a positive relationship between sign perception andfactors such as age, experience and safety sign training (p≤0.05).However a meaningful relationship between sign perception and gender was notobserved. Acceptable perception of signs was 72.72% based on ISO 3864 and only9% based on ANSI Z5353. Results show overall safety sign perception within thestudied samples was low and few signs actually reach the perception limits. Thecontribution of personal factors on sign perception can be reduced by educatingthe work force on workplace safety signs.