Most people would agree that safety signs play a critical role in our society. By clearly identifying potential hazards and warning people of danger, signs prevent injuries and fatalities very effectively - it's impossible to calculate how many lives have been saved by health and safety signage.
Still, there is one problem with standard signage that the health and safety industry has yet to properly solve: over-familiarity. We see safety signs practically everywhere we go, and this seems to sharply reduce the impact of those signs.
This issue is most pronounced on our motorways - how often have you ignored or failed to spot a road safety sign whilst driving? - but it's actually present right across the board. From PPE notices on construction sites to the 'Deep Water' and 'Sudden Drop' signs that are still being vandalised throughout the UK, safety signs have become part of the general landscape, and their important information is all too often going unheeded.
So how can this problem be tackled? Many people seem to think that the answer is to use humorous and/or emotive signs that will grab people's attention. One example is the city of Laredo in Texas, USA; the Texas Department of Transportation recently installed a series of comically oversized road signs in the city, complete with such slogans as "Give Us A BRAKE" and "REALLY - STOP MEANS STOP". According to one traffic safety specialist, these 15-foot monstrosities have been erected in the hope that drivers will be encouraged to "be safe", "read the signs", and "focus on the road".
This sort of thing is happening here in Britain, too, although we're taking a slightly different approach:
The sign in the photo above is currently isntalled on a road in Cheshire, and this emotive approach - encouraging motorists to think of the lives they may affect with unsafe driving - is "thought to have led to lower speeds" according to ITV.com
So is it time for novel ideas like these to be implemented everywhere? Perhaps, although it's important to remember that standard safety signs are still very much essential. We at Label Source feel that the best way to use these funny and emotive signs is in conjunction with regular signage; this will ensure that all the essential information is clearly provided even as we attempt to capture imaginations and tug at heartstrings.
See also: French village deploys dark humour to promote road safety
