When you decide to put warning and instructional plates on your equipment and in areas where these are needed, you may need to use headers that state just how high the level of danger is in that area or with that piece of equipment. Different kinds of headers come with different levels of danger attached to it, and using these headers will help alert people to this. Not using headers where these are needed will actually endanger people’s lives since they won’t take the necessary precautions they need to with these things.
To cite an example, a piece of equipment that carries with it a high level of danger that may result in probable serious injury or death should carry a warning plate with the word “Danger” as its header. This tells you that the risk of death or serious physical harm is possible if proper care is not taken. Putting a Notice or a Caution header on the warning plate that you put on this piece of equipment may end up with someone getting seriously hurt, or even worse, dying simply because the header did not inform them of the proper level of precaution needed with such equipment.
These headers are used to convey the level of danger that comes with the use of a piece of machinery or when you enter an area, and the headers that are used to do these include:
Danger – this is considered the most dangerous of all headers since this brings with it a warning that a person may die or get seriously injured if they are not careful around the area or equipment where this particular plate can be found. This particular header is often used on equipment that come with high voltage requirements, those that have numerous moving parts that can be considered pinch points, and many more. These equipment usually come with instructions for operation, with details on how to use properly and what to look out for often included.
Warning – this is the header that tells you of dangers that may cause death or serious injury if one is not careful in the area or when using the equipment these metal nameplates are on. While a Danger header says that death or serious physical harm is imminent when a person is neglectful, a Warning header tells of these possibilities but it is not imminent. Still, it does pay to take heed since there is a possibility of serious harm if you do not take care when these signs or plates are present.
Caution – this header tells you of possible minor injuries if you do not take care when you handle the equipment that these plates are put on. Caution is the yellow header that informs people that there is a possibility of getting hurt if they do not practice safety measures needed for the equipment these plates are on. This is the third and lowest level header that indicates danger is present in an area or with the use of specific equipment, however this does not mean that this should be ignored due to the low level of danger it brings with it.
Notice – this usually tells people what to do and what procedures need to be followed when operating something or when in an area. This usually does not bring any level of danger with it, however when this plate is used, compliance is still needed to ensure that you are doing the right thing and do not make mistakes.