A code serving different purposes

NOM-026-STPS-2008 is listed as current in the official Mexican catalogue. It covers safety and hygiene colours and signs, together with identification of hazards from fluids carried in pipework. These functions are connected but cannot be reduced to painting every component the same colour.

Safety signage communicates prohibitions, mandatory actions, warnings and safe conditions. The standard defines uses of colours, shapes, symbols and contrast. Its meaning needs to be understood where a person makes a decision, before exposure to the hazard occurs.

Real visibility and understanding

Employers must train workers to interpret signs and maintain visibility and legibility. Signs must be placed where they can be observed, avoiding obstructions and competing notices that reduce effectiveness. A technically correct sign hidden behind materials fails to serve its purpose.

For example, reorganising storage can conceal an exit or emergency equipment. Review should follow the user’s route through the space rather than merely confirm that an old photograph shows a sign was once installed.

Identifying pipework

The pipe identification system combines safety colour, contrast, supplementary information and flow direction. Hazardousness does not depend only on chemical composition: pressure or temperature conditions can also matter. A familiar fluid may cause injury under particular service conditions.

Information should allow people to recognise the line’s hazards and the direction in which fluid moves. It must be visible at relevant locations, including near valves and along routes. Colour alone does not replace the identification needed to understand the installation or distinguish different operating conditions.

Consistency with other systems

Chemical substance hazard communication also has its own specific standard. Signage codes, product labels and other technical codes should not be mixed indiscriminately. Each conveys information for a particular purpose and must remain understandable to its intended users.

Documentation and training need updating when hazards, routes or installations change. Signs do not remove the need to isolate energy, safeguard machinery or control a substance. This entry does not propose replacing regulatory signs with decorative designs: it supports preventive communication that people can interpret correctly while carrying out their work.