5,190 workers were killed on the job in 2016 – that’s more than 14 deaths a day.* Barricade tapes such as caution, danger, and lead hazard tapes are used to communicate warnings and manage access to work sites and hazardous areas to promote safety. These non-adhesive, brightly colored tapes are designed to catch your attention to reduce the risk of serious injuries and keep everyone safe.
The three most common messages printed on barricade tapes are caution, danger, and lead hazard. Caution and danger tapes are sometimes used interchangeably based on the discretion of the user, but caution tapes are more traditionally used to alert people working in hazardous areas and instruct them to proceed carefully, whereas danger tapes are used to forbid entry to dangerous areas that could put them at risk of serious injury or death. Lead hazard warning tapes are used to alert people about areas where there is a likelihood of lead exposure.
Barricade tapes are used in many situations to promote safety by indicating high risk areas or to mark off areas of restriction. Here are a few examples of top ways they are most often used:
Containment Areas: In abatement and remediation applications, barricade tapes can be used in tandem with abatement tapes used to build containment systems in areas that have been blocked off to add additional security to contaminated areas.
Construction Job Sites: Barricade tapes in construction work sites are used to warn against or block off hazardous areas as well as bring attention to dangerous equipment. In construction alone, there were almost 1,000 deaths in 2016. Properly placed barricade tapes can help prevent these incidents and even more injuries that occur in this industry daily.
Law Enforcement and Emergency Personnel: Firefighters use barricade tape to isolate areas after a fire and police officers use caution tape for traffic control.
Crime Scenes: A commonly known use for barricade tapes – largely because of movies and television shows – forensics and law enforcement professionals often use caution tape to prevent tampering on crime scenes to protect the validity of the investigation.
Barricade tapes are specifically designed to promote the safety and well-being of others and are crucial for blocking off and warning against dangerous areas. If your job includes hazardous elements be sure to properly mark off unsafe areas to ensure everyone’s safety and prevent serious workplace injuries.
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*Source: https://www.osha.gov/oshstats/commonstats.html
