Photo of the day: Floor Marking

Companies around the world, from major manufacturers down to your local grocery store, all share a common struggle: efficiently managing the movement of products and people. The business may slow down because storage isn’t organized, or forklift drivers aren’t sure which way to go. Every company could benefit from better organization, workflow, and safety. Enter floor marking.

Table of Contents

Floor marking uses visual signals, such as lines, applied directly on the floor to provide information about a given area. Often, floor marking is used to identify aisles, walkways, or other spaces in warehouses and other industrial workplaces. Using specialized floor tape, paint, or even lighting systems, effective floor marking can enhance safety, streamline logistics, and improve organizational efficiency.

The photo of the day will outline the following :

Floor Marking Requirements
Applications for Floor Marking
Floor Marking Tape Benefits
How to Apply Floor Marking Tape
Placement And Color Guide to Floor Marking

Floor Marking Best Practices

Floor Marking Requirements

OSHA’s general standard for workplace floors is 29 CFR 1910.22, titled “Walking and Working Surfaces.” The regulation requires these surfaces to be inspected periodically and kept clean, safe, and accessible. Additionally, where mechanical equipment such as forklifts are used, OSHA’s regulations for materials handling (in 1910.176) come into play. These rules require that safe clearances must be maintained, and permanent aisles and passageways must be appropriately marked.

These regulations don’t specifically require floor tape, painted lines, or other forms of floor marking; the rules are written to focus on the goal, rather than the method used to achieve it. However, floor marking can be an excellent way to move toward each of the goals laid out in the OSHA regulations. High-quality floor marking tape is cost-effective, highly visible, and withstands the abuse of warehouse traffic.

Applications for Floor Marking

While safety is a clear goal for floor marking, the same process can also be used to meet other important business needs. It can help facilities:

Indicate where inventory should be stored
Define loading and unloading areas for inventory
Mark aisles, pathways, and hazardous areas
Help visitors find their way around unfamiliar areas
Direct the flow of traffic within the facility

Choose Floor Marking Tape for Your Facility

Companies are increasingly viewing floor marking as a component of the 5S lean manufacturing methodology. Essentially, it helps the Set in Order step. Everything is organized and has its place, from heavy machinery to garbage cans. Floor marking can cordon off these areas, or show employees where to find them.

While large companies may have more warehouse traffic, even small companies may have complex and confusing warehouse layouts. Both can benefit from floor marking to alleviate potential bottlenecks. For example, floor marking tape can clearly mark areas for pallets. If you can’t tell where to put the pallets, you’re wasting time, taking up valuable space, and compromising safety. With floor marking, you can organize the pallets based on their content or shipping destination.

Floor Marking Tape Benefits

Applying floor marking tape is quick and cost-effective, compared to painting floors. Stenciling or painting on a floor is messy. Basic paints wear off quickly under foot traffic, and tougher epoxy or enamel paints release fumes during application and curing that can require temporary closure of part of a facility. Preparation for painting, and waiting for paint to dry, can also impact productivity. Floor marking, by contrast, produces no fumes and needs no time to dry or cure.

All floor marking tape is not created equal. For heavy-duty facility traffic, Graphic Products has introduced a family of floor marking supplies that can take daily punishment from vehicles, enhance safety communication, and direct people to exits and entrances.

Barricades

How to Apply Floor Marking Tape

It’s easy to apply floor marking tape, whether in a small facility or a large one. Follow this simple process:

Prepare the floor surface by cleaning with soap and water
Determine areas to be sectioned off including aisles, electrical boxes, storage areas, eyewash stations, fire extinguishers, garbage cans, recycling stations
Measure area widths
Determine floor marking tape colors and other supplies based on inventory, traffic flow patterns, areas needing specific boundaries for safety, height, available light in the facility, and corporate logos
Load up applicator with floor marking tape
Apply tape
Clean with a damp mop

Floor Marking Placement

Floor marking should be used if there are two or more types of traffic, or as a way to make users aware of safety hazards. Floor marking is used to separate people from hazards, mark aisles and passageways, and establish safe zones and other specific traffic uses.

The following is a transcript of the Floor Marking Placement

Placement And Color Guide to Floor Marking

Floor Marking Applications:

Purple Tape – Finished Goods
White Tape – 5S Cart Storage
Blue Tape – Part Organization
Printable Tape – Traffic Marking
White Tape – Work Area
Green Tape – Part Organization
Black Tape – Part Organization
Yellow Tape – Pallet Storage
T’s & Corners
Red/White Stripe – Keep Clear Area
Stop Sign for Traffic
Black/Yellow Stripe – Hazardous Area
Yellow Tape – Traffic Flow
Black/White Stripe – Keep Clear Area
Black/Yellow Stripe – Electrical Area
Green Tape – Safety Area
Footprint Cutouts
Glow-in-the-Dark Floor Marking

Label Applications

Fire Safety Label
Door Safety Sign
Emergency Eye Wash Label
Dock Identification Label
Forklift Safety Sign
Rack & Shelf Labels
Labeled Inventory Locations
Shelf & Bin Labels

Widely Used Floor Marking COLORS & PATTERNS

While there is no specific floor marking color requirements, the following is a color-coding guide popular in many facilities.

YELLOW
When used for safety purposes, indicates caution. For organization purposes, used for pedestrian paths, vehicle paths, aisles, work areas and storage areas.

WHITE
Often used for general purposes, such as outlines around equipment or storage racks.

RED
For safety purposes, used as a hazard indicator. For organizational purposes, used to mark the boundaries of a defective product area or scrap material area.

ORANGE
For safety purposes, used to indicate a level of caution more serious than yellow. For organizational purposes, used to indicate materials or products held for inspection.

BLACK/GREEN/BLUE/PURPLE
Various colors can be used for organizational purposes, such as indicating raw materials, work-in-progress materials, or finished goods.

BLACK/YELLOW STRIPE
When used for safety purposes, indicates caution. For organizational purposes, used for pedestrian paths, vehicle paths, aisles, work areas, and storage areas.

BLACK/WHITE STRIPE
Often used for general purposes, such as outlines around equipment or storage racks.

RED/WHITE STRIPE
Often used to indicate areas that must be kept clear for safety reasons (like around exit points, electrical panels, or hazardous equipment).

Download the photo

Now you can download the Infographic ” Floor Marking” and post it at the workplace and communicate with everyone to be familiar with the types of Floor marking and how to place it at the workplace.

Photo of the day: Floor Marking

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