The e ffectiveness of all of the critical design elements has been established under controlled tests and/or experience and logic of industry and safety experts. Z535 attempts to not only promote uniformity but also increase the recognition effectiveness of the safety/hazard message. Those most relevant to the Electrical Utility Industry include OSHA and the NESC.Įssentially Z535 is a design guide that includes elements such as color, symbols, message content, layout format, and font. Pretty much all codes and regulations in the US incorporate all or part of Z535 where safety/hazard identification markings are required. It’s a voluntary standard that is revised every 4-5 years, and that becomes mandatory when it is incorporated by reference into codes and regulations your utility must stay in compliance with. Overview of the standardĪNSI (Z535) is an American standard that sets forth a system for presenting safety and accident prevention information. In this blog, I have broken down the five key design elements in an understandable way in order to hopefully allow you to assess your existing designs, and draft new designs for conformance. The cost of just purchasing the standard is in excess of $500. This can make the task of designing your safety signs, labels, and tags challenging and time-consuming. The ANSI Z535 Standard for safety signs, labels, tags, and barricade tapes contains nearly 300 pages of technical information in six sections some of which are integral to the others, and some not relevant to applications in the electrical utility industry.

Ansi z535.4 2011