Insights from Standard Register

That was Mark Caring’s reaction to the $10 million judgment a jury handed down for injuries sustained by Jose Ramirez, who was maintaining a snow blower attachment that was missing its safety labels. Befuddled, the president of Every Company Attachments USA asked Edgar Thompson, the company’s attorney, “How did the jury come to this decision?”

“The jurors said your operator’s manuals and instruction sheets failed to adequately warn of inherent danger,” explained Edgar.

“Our manuals? How could this be? We put warnings in them,” he uttered excitedly.

Consoling his client, Edgar said “Yes, I know you do, but Mr. Ramirez was illiterate. Also, the jury found the warnings to be inconsistent with the on-product safety labels, lacked supportive instructions and their presentation was inconsistent as well.”

According to the American Law Institute’s “Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Products Liability” when the foreseeable risks of harm posed by the product could have been reduced or avoided by reasonable instructions or warnings, their omission renders the product not reasonably safe.

A recent survey shows manufacturers are using a wide array of presentation techniques for safety messages, including bold, underlined or italic type, capital letters and larger type and warning messages with different typeface color, lines, white space or indentation, including symbols and signal words. This lack of safety message presentation uniformity is a rapidly expanding rationale for product liability lawsuits and is leading juries to say manufacturers are failing in their “duty to warn.”

Edgar replied, “I just learned the ANSI Z535 Committee has created a new standard — a hazard communications system called Z535.6 — Product Safety Information in Product Manuals, Instructions and Other Collateral Materials.”

This standard incorporates elements of graphic approaches used by other ANSI Z535-Series standards to provide guidance for a uniform and consistent visual presentation of product safety information in printed collateral materials such as owner’s manuals, instructions, user’s guides, maintenance or service manuals, assembly instructions and safety manuals or instructions on a package or container.

“No, it’s voluntary, but I would highly recommend you implement its principles in upgrading your current owner’s manuals and instructions and when developing new ones,” counseled Edgar.

“I do, I have read the standard. Let’s take a look at what it says,” responded Edgar, pulling the standard out of his briefcase and laying it on the table.

Beyond printed safety information, there are also training videos on the market, but the standards don’t cover those. Items like product signs, labels, hang-tags, advertising and promotional materials are not covered by the standard either. While ANSI Z535.1 specifies the use of particular colors for safety, this new standard allows safety messages to be presented in black and white or in color, but if you do use safety colors, they should follow the Safety Color Code.

“They are word messages that provide information mostly about the nature of a hazardous situation, the potential consequences of not avoiding a hazardous situation and/or methods for avoiding a hazardous situation or that direct readers to such information. However, safety alert symbols and safety symbols along with other graphics may be used to supplement or substitute for part or all of a word message,” explained Edgar.

The standard has identified four types of safety messages—supplemental directives, grouped safety messages, section safety messages and embedded safety messages, based on their relationship to other information in the document.

“Through the use of safety alert symbols, signal words and signal word panels,” replied Edgar. “And there are rules for their usage and how to present the different safety messages.”

“Where can I learn all about the standard?” asked Mark, scratching his head.

Symbolic Examples:
Safety Alert Symbol: A symbol that indicates a potential personal injury hazard. It is composed of an equilateral triangle surrounding an exclamation mark. The safety alert symbol shall not be used to alert persons of property- damage only accidents. (See Figure 1)

Signal Words & Signal Word Panels: A signal word is a word that calls attention to a safety message(s) or a property damage message(s) and designates a degree or level of hazard seriousness. A signal word panel consists of a safety alert symbol and signal word centered (vertically and horizontally) on a contrasting rectangular background which may have a border around it. The panel may be in black and white or color. (See Figure 2)

DANGER indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, will result in death or serious injury.

WARNING indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, could result in death or serious injury.

CAUTION indicates a hazardous situation which, if not avoided, may result in minor or moderate injury.

Safety Messages: Messages that provide information mainly about the nature of a hazardous situation, the potential consequences of not avoiding a hazardous situation, and/or method(s) for avoiding a hazardous situation or that direct readers to such information. ANSI Z535.6 describes the four types of safety messages as follows:

1. Supplemental Directives: These are messages promoting awareness and use of other safety messages, such as grouped, section or embedded safety messages, product safety signs and labels and do not address specific hazards. They should contain generic hazard avoidance information and may also include generic or specific consequence information, as shown in figure 3.

2. Grouped Safety Messages: These are messages grouped into a separate section or document dedicated to safety information — for example an Important Safety Information chapter in a document or separate manual titled Safety information for Model 2XR501. They are typically located before any procedural information to which they apply.

3. Section Safety Messages: These apply to entire sections, subsections or multiple paragraphs or procedures within a document and typically appear at the beginning of or before messages which they apply.

Section 3.1 Servicing Engine
EXHAUST FUMES CAN KILL! Never work on a loader with the engine running unless so instructed for specific service. Never operate any type of engine without proper ventilation.

4. Embedded Safety Messages: These are integrated into smaller units of information such as a particular procedure or part of a procedure or into other non-safety information, like product descriptions, specifications, etc.

Checking Hydraulic Motor
Step 1: Make sure quick disconnects are secure and in proper rotation position. Then check for failed motor/attachment connections and review all the hydraulic piping and hoses for collapses and holes that could cause leaks or restrictions.

Pressurized hydraulic fluid can penetrate the skin or eyes and cause serious injury, blindness or death. Fluid leaks under pressure may not be visible. Use a piece of cardboard or wood to find leaks, but do not use bare hand. Wear a face shield or safety goggles for eye protection. If any fluid is injected into the skin, it must be removed within a few hours by a doctor familiar with this type of injury.

Step 2: Make sure the hydraulic power unit (HPU) is generating hydraulic power by making certain the filters (filler breather, oil intake and return) are not clogged or dirty.

Jeff Klingberg is the president and CEO of Konstanz Kommunikations Inc., Hampshire, Ill. This article was originally published in Compact Equipment magazine.

Oh No!Ensure All of Your Safety Bases Are Covered with a Well-Designed Operator's Manual

Oh No!
Ensure All of Your Safety Bases Are Covered with a Well-Designed Operator's Manual