Irrespective of the type of paint used for line striping, all floor markings will eventually wear out due to foot and vehicle traffic. One way to control the wear and tear on your floor markings is to re-coat them whenever necessary. Aesthetics aside, maintaining your line striping project regularly is critical for the following three reasons:
1. Improving safety – Making physical spaces easier for workers and visitors to understand, floor signage
is one of the most important tools in creating a higher level of safety awareness in any workplace. When used and maintained properly, floor marking lines can dramatically reduce the number of occupational accidents. As an example, forklift collisions with workers are a major cause of workplace injuries. Adequate marking of pedestrian and vehicular routes along with the use of directional arrows, “Keep Area Clear” signs (e.g. red-and-white safety lines) and glow-in-the-dark markings can help you prevent forklift accidents and other unfortunate incidents. Line striping can also be used to:
- mark emergency exit routs, areas where hazardous pieces of equipment or electrical panels are
located and areas where workers should stand during certain operations; - reinforce existing safety rules and make safe work practices more obvious to workers;
- turn your workplace into a visual work area so that anyone can easily understand how everything works.
2. Boosting efficiency and productivity – Used to convey important information, floor marking lines can make your facility very efficient. For instance, you can use floor lines to mark storage areas so that your workers can easily find the resources they need. Eliminating the confusion on your shop floor means that your employees won’t waste work time searching for materials, tools and equipment, which will result in greater efficiency and productivity.
3. Complying with OSHA safety guidelines – According to OSHA regulations, all “permanent aisles and passageways shall be appropriately marked.” What does this mean? In short, line striping should be used to mark safe pathways in locations with multiple types of traffic or in areas potentially subject to safety hazards. In addition to marking your floors according to OSHA standards, you need to train your workers to recognize and understand the markings used throughout your facility.
Currently, there are no government-mandated industry regulations regarding the colors that should be used in line striping projects. However, the color recommendations included in the table below, referred to as 5S Floor Marking Color Standard, are widely accepted in safety signage.
Use the color… |
For… |
white |
equipment pieces or fixtures that don’t fall under other color recommendations, such as racks, floor-stand shelving, carts, etc. |
red and white |
areas where safety equipment, firefighting equipment, first aid supplies, electrical panels and emergency access points are located |
black and white |
areas that need to be kept clear for certain operations |
red |
locations where defects and discarded materials for reprocessing need to be placed |
orange |
areas where products or materials are stored for inspection |
yellow |
work cells, traffic lanes and aisles |
black and yellow |
hazardous areas |
When looking for line striping services, opting for experienced, OSHA-certified paint contractors who can manage line striping maintenance projects professionally is critical. Although there is a lot of leeway when it comes to line striping projects, floor markings are an essential part of any workplace safety program. A contractor with little or no knowledge of OSHA safety guidelines may be tempted to cut corners or ignore rules. This can put your workers in danger.
At Performance Painting Contractors, job-site safety is our first priority. This is one of the reasons why we spend a lot of time educating our project managers, team leaders, painters and carpenters on OSHA rules and regulations. If you have any questions about our qualifications, credentials and certifications, or about the painting and line striping projects our crews can tackle, please don’t hesitate to call us at (904)-641-4800 in Jacksonville or at (813)-308-0388 in Tampa, FL.