Floor marking colours poster

Floor marking only helps if everyone reads the colours the same way. OSHA 1910.144 gives two safety colour meanings that hold on the floor too: red for fire protection equipment, danger and stop, and yellow for caution and physical hazards such as tripping and striking against. OSHA has no colour code for floor tape, so colours for aisles, work in process, finished goods, scrap and quarantine are a common convention and a site choice, and guides differ. This poster prints the two fixed meanings and leaves a box on every other card to write in your site's colour.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 408 KB · no form

Free to print and share with your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

The words on the poster

Floor marking colours

One meaning per colour, across the whole site. Write in your colours.

Fire equipment and danger Red. Keep the area in front clear.
Physical hazards Yellow: trip, strike, fall, caught-between.
Aisles and walkways Colour: ____
Work cells and equipment Colour: ____
WIP and materials Colour: ____
Finished goods Colour: ____
Scrap and red tag Colour: ____
Quarantine and hold Colour: ____

Red and yellow: OSHA 29 CFR 1910.144 safety colours. OSHA has no floor tape colour code; the rest is your site standard.

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Floor marking colours poster to work

1
Agree your site's colours, write them in, and post the poster at every entrance to the floor.
2
Check it against the free floor marking colour guide before you buy tape or paint.
3
Use it in induction: a new starter should be able to read the floor on day one.
4
Pair it with the visual management poster and the set in order poster.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.

Sources and notes

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.144, safety color code for marking physical hazards: red for fire protection equipment, danger and stop; yellow for caution and physical hazards.
ANSI Z535.1, Safety Colors: the standard safety colours and what each signals. OSHA has no colour code for floor tape; 29 CFR 1910.176(a) requires permanent aisles (where mechanical handling equipment is used) to be appropriately marked, without naming a colour. Colours for aisles, WIP, finished goods, scrap and hold are a common convention, not a regulation.