Safety slogans for work: 86 lines that name the hazard
Short answer
A safety slogan works when it names a hazard and an action a person can be seen doing. Horn at every cross aisle does that. Safety first does not. Below are 86 original slogans for plants and warehouses, grouped by hazard, with the rule behind each group where there is one. A slogan reminds people. It does not remove a hazard.
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What makes a slogan work
Most safety slogans fail the same way. They tell people to be safe without saying how. Nobody walking past a Safety first banner changes what their hands are doing.
The slogans on this page were written to pass three checks. If a line passes all three, a supervisor can walk the floor and see whether people are doing it. That is the point of posting it.
We wrote these for this page. They are free to use on your own boards, screens and sign-off sheets.
- Check 1
It names the hazard
A cross aisle, a raised fork, an unlabelled jug. Not safety in general.
- Check 2
It names an action
Sound the horn. Swap the pair. Tag it out. A verb someone can carry out.
- Check 3
You could see someone doing it
If you cannot observe it on a walk, you cannot coach it.
Safety starts with you
No hazard. No action. Nothing to look for on a walk.
Horn at every cross aisle
One place, one action. You can stand at the aisle and count.
86 safety slogans by hazard
Pick the group that matches your own near misses, not the one that sounds best.
Forklifts and people on foot
- Horn at every cross aisle.
- Eyes up at the end of the rack.
- Raised forks, nobody under.
- If the driver has not nodded, do not cross.
- Forks down before your feet touch the floor.
- Read the plate before the pallet.
- No riders. Walk it.
- Stop short of the person at the bench.
What is behind these
The forklift standard has drivers slow down and sound the horn at cross aisles and wherever vision is obstructed. It also bars anyone from standing or passing under raised forks.
Lockout and machines
- Your lock, your key, your hand takes it off.
- Stopped is not locked.
- Try the start before you reach in.
- One person, one lock, every time.
- The guard goes back before the power does.
- Tools out, people clear, then start.
- If the guard is in the way, call. Do not open it.
- A magnet stick is not a guard.
What is behind these
Under the lockout standard, isolation is verified before work starts and each lock is removed by the person who applied it. The machine guarding standard requires a guard at the point of operation. The full procedure is in the lockout/tagout guide.
PPE
- Cracked lens, new pair.
- Glasses on before you walk in, not when you get there.
- If it does not fit, it does not protect. Swap it.
- Plugs all the way in, the whole time the machine runs.
- Seal check every time the mask goes on.
- Hole in the glove, new glove.
- PPE is the last layer. Fix the hazard first.
What is behind these
OSHA's general PPE rule says defective or damaged equipment is not used. NIOSH puts PPE last in its hierarchy of controls, below removing the hazard. See the PPE guide.
Housekeeping
- If you stepped over it, pick it up.
- Spill seen, spill cleaned, leak reported.
- Nothing parks in the exit route.
- A clear aisle is part of the job.
- Put it back where its outline is.
- The floor is not a shelf.
- 18 inches clear below the sprinklers.
What is behind these
Walking surfaces are kept free of hazards such as sharp or protruding objects, loose boards, leaks and spills. Exit routes stay free and unobstructed. Stock stays at least 18 inches below sprinklers.
Lifting and moving
- Test the weight before you lift.
- Keep the load close to your body.
- Turn with your feet. Do not twist.
- Too heavy for one? Get a second person or the hoist.
- Use the cart. That is what it is for.
- Clear the path before you pick it up.
What is behind these
We cite no OSHA paragraph for this group. The NIOSH lifting equation counts how far the load is from the body, how far it travels and how much the body turns among its task variables.
Chemicals
- No label, no use.
- Read the label before you open the lid.
- If you poured it, label it.
- Know where the SDS is before you need it.
- The label stays on the drum.
- New chemical, ask before you use it.
What is behind these
The hazard communication standard requires containers in the workplace to be labelled, bars removing or defacing labels on incoming containers, and requires safety data sheets to be readily accessible on each shift.
Electrical
- A tripped breaker gets a call, not a reset.
- Nothing stored in front of the panel.
- Missing ground pin, cord goes in the bin.
- Look at the cord before you plug it in.
- Damaged cord, out of service.
- Cords are not ropes.
What is behind these
Cords are looked over before use on any shift. A circuit that tripped is not switched back on by hand until it has been determined to be safe. The working space in front of a panel is not used for storage.
Ladders and heights
- Face the ladder, up and down.
- One hand always on the ladder.
- The top cap is not a step.
- Climb down to move it.
- Bad ladder gets a tag, not a hook.
- Open edge, stay back until the rail is in.
What is behind these
The ladder standard covers inspection before first use on each shift, tagging defective ladders out of service, facing the ladder, keeping a hand on it, and not moving it while someone is on it.
Fire and exits
- Know your way out from where you stand.
- Nothing in front of the extinguisher.
- Exit route clear, every shift.
- Hear the alarm, walk out, get counted.
- If it says Not an Exit, believe it.
- Do not prop the fire door.
What is behind these
Exit routes are kept free and unobstructed, and a door that could be mistaken for an exit is marked. Portable extinguishers are mounted and located so they are readily accessible. See the emergency action plan guide.
Reporting and speaking up
- Report the near miss while it is still only a near miss.
- Saw it? Say it. Then log it.
- Hurt at work? Tell the supervisor before you go home.
- If it looks wrong, stop the job and ask.
- Stopping the job is never the wrong call.
- Report it even if nothing broke.
- New here? Ask twice. Nobody minds.
- Fix it if you can. Flag it if you cannot.
What is behind these
An employer has 8 hours to report a work-related fatality to OSHA and 24 hours to report an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. That clock is why an injury has to reach a supervisor the same day. See near miss reporting and stop work authority.
Cranes and slings
- No tag on the sling, no lift.
- Hands out before the slack comes out.
- Nobody under the load. No exceptions.
- Loads go around people, not over them.
- Pad the sharp edge.
What is behind these
The sling standard bars slings without legible identification markings, asks for padding at sharp edges, and keeps hands out from between the sling and the load. The crane standard has the operator avoid carrying loads over people.
Docks
- Chocks in before forks in.
- See the chocks yourself.
- Dock plate secured, then drive.
- Check the trailer floor before you trust it.
- Stay back from the dock edge.
What is behind these
Before a forklift boards a highway truck, its brakes are set and its rear wheels chocked, and the floor is checked for breaks and weakness. Dockboards are secured before anyone drives over them.
Short ones for boards and screens
- Stop. Look. Then cross.
- Lock on. Try it.
- Forks down.
- Label it.
- Tag it out.
- Clear the exit.
- Ask first.
- Report it today.
What is behind these
Two or three words each, for a board, a screen or a sticker. Each is a short form of a line above.
How to use a slogan so it does something
Start from your own records
Read last quarter's near misses and first aid cases. Pick the hazard that shows up most. That is the slogan you need.
One slogan per hazard, per place
Post it where the hazard is. Six posters on one wall get read once and never again.
Change it when the hazard changes
When the blind corner gets a mirror or the layout moves, take the old line down.
Open a talk with it
Say the slogan, then give the talk behind it. The 1-minute safety topics pair with most of the lines on this page, and the full library is at safety topics for work.
Fix the hazard too
NIOSH ranks administrative controls and PPE below elimination, substitution and engineering controls. A slogan sits with the administrative controls at best. See the hierarchy of controls.
A slogan contest with a brief
Illustrative example
This example is made up. A packaging plant has 60 people. Last quarter it logged 11 near misses. Six of them were between forklifts and people on foot, at the same two cross aisles.
The safety committee runs a slogan contest, with a brief of one line: write a slogan for the two cross aisles that tells a walker or a driver what to do there. It gets 23 entries.
The committee applies the three checks. Most entries name no hazard. Four pass. It picks Eyes up at the end of the rack and posts it at both aisles, at eye height for someone walking.
It does not stop at the poster. Maintenance fits a mirror at the blinder of the two corners, and the committee counts near misses at those two aisles again next quarter.
Where the action goes after the talk
A talk ends with a hazard someone has to fix. In LeanSuite that hazard gets an owner and stays open until it is closed.
- Safety tagsAnyone on the floor reports a hazard, near miss or unsafe condition in seconds, it is routed to an owner and tracked until it is fixed.See Safety tags
- Near Miss ReportingAnyone logs a near miss, unsafe act or unsafe condition on their phone in seconds, and each corrective action is tracked until it is closed.See Near Miss Reporting
- Kaizen and project management for safetyRuns every investigation and corrective action as a project with an owner, a workflow and due dates, with dashboards for leading and lagging indicators.See Kaizen and project management for safety
- Safety ImprovementKeeps employees alert to hazards and gives leaders the visibility to drive safety improvements.See Safety Improvement
FAQ
Safety slogans: common questions
One that names a hazard and an action: Horn at every cross aisle, No label, no use, Your lock, your key, your hand takes it off. If you can stand on the floor and see whether people are doing it, it is a good slogan.
Forks down. Label it. Tag it out. Clear the exit. Ask first. Lock on, try it. Report it today. Short lines work on boards and screens when the crew already knows the longer rule behind them.
A slogan is a reminder. It can keep a known rule in front of people at the place where it applies. It does not remove a hazard, and NIOSH ranks that kind of control below elimination, substitution and engineering controls.
Give a brief that names one hazard from your own records and one place. Judge entries on three checks: it names the hazard, it names an action, and you could see someone doing it. Post the winner where the hazard is.
At the hazard: the end of a rack row, the machine disconnect, the decanting station, the dock door. A slogan is not a safety sign. Signs for specific hazards have their own colours and wording rules.
Take the talks to the floor
One page per talk: the hazard, what to say, a question for the crew and the OSHA rule. The last page is a sign-in sheet.
- 10 for all areas: exits, PPE, first aid
- 10 for the plant floor: lockout, guards, cranes
- 10 for warehouses and docks: trailers, forklifts, racking
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