Floor Marking Guidelines
Utilized in every kind of professional facility, from small schools and gymnasiums to large, full-scale manufacturing and chemical processing plants, strategically employed floor marking makes open space easier for workers and visitors to understand.
Because it relays important information at the location and time it’s needed, floor marking creates a safer, more efficient facility. In a handful of cases, floor marking lines are required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other government agencies.
In this post we will discuss common and creative applications for floor marking, floor marking products, and tips for using floor markings.
Floor Marking Line Width Guidelines
To ensure maximum visibility, the required minimum width for facility aisle and floor marking lines is 2”. Therefore, any width above that is considered acceptable by OSHA and ANSI.
Most typical applications use tape or painted lines with 2” – 6” widths.
Widths above 6” tend to be much more cost prohibitive and impractical to apply.
Floor Marking Colors
There are many regulated color codes for the workplace, but floor marking is not one of them. While OSHA has no set requirements for the colors of floor marking, there are some standards you can look to for guidance. For instance, physical hazards must be marked with either yellow or red depending on the risk present.
The color code that is widely accepted and used today will keep your facility in compliance with both OSHA and ANSI standards. The colors are as follows:
- Yellow: Yellow markings are used to alert workers of tripping hazards and are the standard color for marking aisles and traffic lanes.
- White: White floor markings are ideal for designating storage spaces for equipment like carts, trash cans, etc.
- Red: Red markings are used to identify fire hazards and are also a good choice for marking scrap areas or a red tag area.
- Striped: Hazard striped tape comes in red & white, black & white, and black & yellow. The patterned tape is perfect around dangerous machines or to mark off a hazardous area.
Additional Resources
- Industrial Floor Marking Guidelines– creativesafetysupply.com
- OHSA Standards for Floor Marking– aislemarking.com
- OSHA Floor Marking Standards– floor-marking-tape.com
- Floor Marking– blog.creativesafetysupply.com
- Floor Tape Applications– floortape101.com
- Industrial Floor Marking Color Standards– floor-tape.com
- Improving Safety with Floor Marking– realsafety.org
- Keeping Up-To-Date With Floor Marking Tape– lean-news.com
- Types of Floor Marking Tapes for Warehouses– babelplex.com
