3 Ways to Make Sure People Read Your Safety Posters
You take the time to craft safety protocols, find the posters that meet your needs, hang them throughout the workplace, and then, people don’t read them. We feel your pain. But your teammates might not be to blame. The issue might be sign fatigue.
Three out of four safety professionals believe changing safety posters more often increases their effectiveness. If your team walks by the same sign every single day, they may stop paying attention after a while. And if your sign isn’t eye-catching, they might not notice it at all. Here are three tried-and-true tactics for making sure people read your sign—and pay attention.
Make them laugh
Tip number one is to buy a better sign. Your drab posters are informative, but they’re not grabbing anyone’s attention. Catch their eye with a bright colors, large text and interesting visuals. And be sure the amount of text on the poster is appropriate for the setting. For instance, if your poster hangs near someone’s desk, a large block of text might be okay, but if it’s hanging in a hallway where people pass by, people will only catch a few words by the time they pass it.
We’ll also add that it never hurts to make them laugh. Several studies show that humor boosts retention, so not only will a humorous poster catch attention, but it also may help them remember your message.
Shuffle signs around
Now that you have more exciting signs, ensure more people see them by moving them around frequently and testing where they’re most effective. For instance, you might assume the break room is a great spot to catch people’s attention, but you may find that people aren’t reading your posters because they’re engaging with colleagues. On the other hand, a conference room might be a surprisingly good spot to catch some eyeballs as people wait for teammates to arrive at a meeting.
Once you find the spots that seem to garner the most attention, rotate your posters between the hot spots. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to surprise people with fresh messages. By the time you’ve made it through the rotation, you’ll be ready to order more posters.
Update your signs frequently
As we mentioned before, safety professionals think changing safety posters more often increases their effectiveness. So the best way to get your message across is to keep it fresh. You know that the safety message stays consistent from poster to poster—wear your PPE, clean up spills, wash your hands—but passersby will notice the change in colors, images and terminology.