This included “racking” or moving/jumping the ladder either forward, backward or sideways while still standing on the ladder. It informed ladder users about the most important hazardous condition they might face during the time of use. The final example is a warning I designed for a ladder. The use of orange in their marketing of the bottle could have obscured the warning label in fact, our testing showed that to be the case. Which they weren’t for some of the products, such as Orange Crush. However, in this case we consulted the ANSI standard whose rule called mostly for contrasting colors if the original colors weren’t practical. The colors associated with the signal word “WARNING” are typically orange, white and black.
Note in this warning that the consequence is listed as possible eye injury, the hazard is the “pressurized contents”and the instructional component urges users to point the bottle away from people when opening it. In fact, most pressurized bottle caps do NOT explode and injure the user’s eye. Although, unlike diving into shallow water in a pool where the danger is immediate, in the “exploding bottle cap,” the hazard is not necessarily immediate. This is because while the consequences can be serious (e.g., loss of an eye). This increases the likelihood of drawing consumers’ attention at the time of use. In addition, it is preceded by a well-known, previously tested icon (the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Safety Alert Symbol) to improve the warning’s conspicuousness.įor larger bottles (2 liters), this warning is actually repeated in two prominent locations. This warning also uses a signal word “WARNING” in bold, uppercase letters with contrasting colors (green and white).
This may cause injury to people, typically to their eyes, when a bottle is opened. The next example is a warning I designed for a soft drink manufacturer to alert consumers of the pressurized cap hazardous condition. Additionally, there is ample white space present in this warning to enhance the readability as well as its content’s conspicuousness. This is consistent with the testing standard recommended by ANSI for testing the effectiveness of pictograms. It should be noted that I tested this pictogram on an audience of several hundred swimmers and over 90% of them understood its meaning. It is also for those who might need a pictorial reinforcement to the verbal language in the warning or for those whose English literacy is not up to par. These are consistent with those recommended by the latest warning standards of the American National Standards Institute (See ANSI Z535) to be associated with the signal word, Danger.įurther, there is a pictogram, also with contrasting colors, that may be helpful for those who cannot read English. There are contrasting colors used for the signal word (red, white and black). Most importantly, it can be seen prior to an individual’s approach to a potentially hazardous condition (i.e., diving into shallow waters). The font size of the letters is sufficient to allow viewing from several feet away from the pool. This was chosen because the hazard “Shallow water” can result in IMMEDIATE AND LIFE THREATENING INJURIES. Note that the warning uses bold print with uppercase letters for the signal word “DANGER.”. Over 800 divers into shallow water are rendered paralyzed or worse annually in the United States. It was for either above or in ground pools, which have shallow water as a potential hazardous condition for diving. The following is an example of a warning that I have designed and tested for use in swimming pools. I also made several suggestions that should help improve a warning’s conspicuousness and make it more likely to gain the attention of the product’s user at the time of use (typically included in the legal standards for warnings which result in the jury instructions used in many states).
#PREPARING A WARNINGS LABEL EXPERT FOR DEPOSITION HOW TO#
In the last articles: How to Design a Product Warning and How Best to Communicate a Product Warning for The Expert Institute, I listed the major components found in most warnings.
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