Staying Safe - Equipment Safety Labeling

By: Bill Flynn, Equipment Project Coordinator

The safety and well-being of workers is crucial for the productive operation of any business. The safety labels which protect those workers are essential because they are the first alert that there may be a potentially hazardous situation. They are a reminder that can prevent an accident. Understanding them will help the operator when operating and maintaining the equipment.

We want to assure our customers that we put the same quality in our safety labels as we put in any of our equipment. Safety labels are not all the same, they can and must continually improve. Because protecting our customers and reducing risk is a number one priority at Amerimulch we have recently conducted an internal safety label audit on our equipment and our owner’s manual.

Since our safety label audit we have been able to make several improvements on our safety labels. We are now compliant with ANSI Z535 standards on all our safety labels. The ANSI Z535 standards are voluntary standards (they are not a legal requirement). However, product manufacturers have a “legal duty” to warn about hazards associated with the use or maintenance of their products. The ANSI Z535 standards are held up in U.S. courts as THE standards to “meet or exceed.” It is because of this, from a product liability perspective, it is best to be compliant with ANSI Z535 standards.

We have also made the format of our safety colors, symbols, graphics and wording (including bilingual) consistent throughout our line of equipment. They can be easily recognized and are derived from the latest standards.

Once again, the main goal is to provide as much warning to the operator of the equipment as possible to improve the safe operation and maintenance of the equipment. It is our responsibility to supply best practice safety labels for our equipment. However, once the customer has the equipment it is up to them to maintain the safety labeling. If your safety labels are no longer legible or no longer in place, please call us at 888.556.3304 and we will assist you in getting new safety labels.