A Preliminary Surveying of the Meaning of Colored Pictogram Instructions for Emergency Settings in Manufacturing

AbstractPictograms are often used for situations where people often do not share the same language. The authors surveyed the comprehension of colored pictograms for emergency situations in manufacturing which can be affected by cultural and educational backgrounds. Colored pictograms for manufacturing setting, such as ‘push’, ‘step’ and ‘wheel’, were designed and presented to workers with different cultural and educational backgrounds in a factory. Their acting behavior scales were examined by conducting a questionnaire survey. Pictograms in different seven colors, such as white, black, red, yellow, green, blue and pink, were used in the survey. The questionnaire was presented to 138 factory workers in Thailand with three different nationalities: Thai, Myanmar and Cambodia. Results indicate that colors have effects on their acting behaviors. The mean values of the acting behavior scales for a group with higher educational backgrounds marked the highest of over 50% for red. On the other hand, the average value of middle and low educated groups marked the lowest of less than 3% for red color

Conveying safety messages on agricultural machinery: The comprehension of safety pictorials in a group of migrant farmworkers in Italy

The comprehension of safety signs affixed to agricultural machinery is fundamental to warning users about the residual risks which cannot be eliminated with machinery design and the adoption of protections. This is particularly relevant for the migrant workforce, which may encounter some language barriers with written safety communication. The present study aimed to investigate the comprehension of safety signs affixed to agricultural machinery in a group of migrants from both European and non-European countries employed in Italian agriculture. Thirty-seven migrant farmworkers (12 Indians, 17 Pakistanis, and eight Romanians) were individually interviewed to test the comprehension of four safety signs referring to the main causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries caused by interactions with farm machinery. Romanians obtained the highest comprehension performance (68.8% of correct answers), followed by Indians (35.4%), with Pakistanis being last (32.4%). The nationality and the previous experience as a farmworker significantly affected the comprehension of safety signs. The results pointed out the importance of adequately training migrants on the meaning of safety signs. Beside this, the study suggests a redesign of the signs, considering some signs' features to enhance pictorials' cross-cultural comprehension

Perceptions of Colored Pictograms for Communicat.ion in Factory Emergencies

芝浦工業大学2018年