Resources
Floor Marking Articles
5 Lean Manufacturing Tools that Work
These five lean manufacturing tools are essential for making your lean journey a success. …
Preparing the Workplace with Emergency Action Plans (EAP)
An emergency action plan is a written document required by OSHA that details procedures carried out by employees during the event of an emergency. …
Floor Marking for Social Distancing
Using floor marking materials such as signs, tape, and other visual reminders is a highly effective way to implement social distancing and reduce the spread of illness in your facility. …
Automated Guided Vehicle Lane Marking
AGVs exist in large facilities to help with consistency and safety. Used for manual labor, AGVs are able to reduce steps in processing to focus on other priorities. …
Supply Chain Integration
Supply chain integration refers to the process of integrating all parts of fulfillment into one single system. Learn the steps to get your supply chain integrated into an easy-to-manage system. …
Floor Marking for Factories
Factories are busy, active environments with a lot happening at all times. Floor marking is a low-cost way of improving efficiency, safety, and organization. …
Floor Marking for Facility Safety
The best way to enhance safety is keeping workers informed, and floor markings are the most reliable, durable method of ensuring that everyone is aware of potential hazards. …
Floor Marking for Door Openings
Every time a door opens, it presents a potential hazard to anyone on the opposite side. With careful floor marking, you can massively reduce this risk and prevent numerous injuries. …
Industrial Floor Marking Guidelines
OSHA doesn’t offer much guidance on how floor markings should be installed, so we’ve compiled some helpful tips and best practices to ensure your markings are useful, straightforward, and helpful to everyone in your facility. …
Floor Marking For 5S
Inexpensive yet endlessly practical floor markings can drastically simplify your 5S efforts, while saving you time and money. Learn more in our latest article. …
Floor Marking for Fire Extinguishers
Use floor markings to make sure you can find the fire extinguisher and that it is not blocked in an emergency. …
Visual Factories
Visual factories use signs, posters, charts, labels and floor marking to provide information that improves efficiency, safety and productivity in the workplace. This is a fairly simple concept that yields excellent results. …
Floor Markings for Forklift Safety
Installing floor markings for forklift traffic can help improve safety and efficiency in warehouses and factories. Take these steps to keep employees safe. …
Floor Marking Ideas for Warehouses
Warehouse floors provide an opportunity for visual communication. Find out what floor signs, tapes, and shapes you can use. …
Types of Floor Marking
Many options exist for marking floors. Learn about floor tapes, virtual floors signs, and more. …
Floor Stickers – Your floors come alive and speak
Improve safety in your workplace by using these 10 types of floor signs. …
Aisle Marking Tape – 5 Strongest Tapes You have Ever Seen!
Learn the requirements for marking aisles and the best methods for doing so. …
Floor Marking for Electrical Panel Compliance
Make sure you are meeting OSHA requirements for marking around electrical panels. …
OSHA Floor Marking
Find out what OSHA has to say about marking your facility's floors. …
Floor marking comprehensive research, education and training
Everything you need to know about marking your facility’s floors. Types of markings, practical tips, and more. …
Floor Marking Questions and Answers
How are Warehouse Floors Numbered?
Virtually every warehouse is going to have a lot of rows where different items can be stored. To ensure everything can be found when it is needed, these rows will typically be numbered. In many cases, the different storage compartments within each row will also be numbered or identified with other systems. There are many… …
How Does Floor Marking Improve Forklift Safety?
When operating a forklift, the operator needs to be aware of many different things. They need to watch for how the load is balanced, whether it will fit through an area, the people around them, and much more. If even a small mistake is made, it can result in the load falling off, someone getting… …
What colors are used to define a work area?
Work areas and work cells are usually marked off with solid yellow floor tape. Employers might also lump in white floor tape with this as many objects and their proper locations may be labeled with this color. For example, white can be used for workstations, racks, movable carts, etc. Utilizing yellow and white tapes for this… …
What is black and yellow tape used for?
Black and yellow hazard tape/barricade tape is one of the most well-known color combinations in all industries. Primarily used to alert employees about using caution in certain areas, or even prohibiting entry, this kind of tape is ubiquitous in the safety world. Yellow and black hazard tape can be seen in the following instances: Used… …
How do you tape a warehouse floor?
Taping a warehouse floor requires a few important steps prior to laying down industrial floor marking tape. The process is the same for all industries looking to place tape down for numerous different situations. Floor marking tape can be for warehouses, distribution facilities, hospitals, schools, the oil and gas industry, in water treatment plants, and… …
How can floor markings improve productivity?
Improving productivity levels is no easy task when it comes to a bustling and crowded workplace. However, with the right tools and information, this to-do can be much less of a headache than what was initially imagined. The answer is floor marking. Marking floors with industrial floor tape, floor shapes, and signs is one of the… …
How can floor markings be utilized in aisles?
Storing objects in aisleways facilitates product and employee movement within production lines. Keeping these spaces clear and organized are essential for a smooth flowing process. However, achieving this is difficult without the right tools. With that being said, industrial grade floor markings are made for this exact application. Let’s go back to the two necessary… …
What does markings on a shop floor indicate?
Markings on a shop floor can indicate a multitude of things, which are all dependent on the location of the markings as well as the color the tape is. Color standards for floor marking are regularly sourced from OSHA and ANSI, a regulatory body and a standard setting organization respectively. Becoming compliant with OSHA’s color… …
What is marking tape used for?
Safety marking tape is used for a plethora of situations that all involve keeping people alert and aware of their surroundings. Color coded floor marking materials allow employees to understand the potential dangers they are dealing with in the surrounding environment. The bonus of safety tape is that identification through color is much faster reading… …
What are the 9 safety colors?
The nine safety colors are defined by ANSI’s Z535.1 standard, the first of six individual standards that make up ANSI Z535. Those colors and color combinations include: Red must always be used for fire protection equipment, flammable liquids, danger signs, and stop buttons. Orange must always be used for signs that are attributed to energized… …
What is 5S tape?
5S tape is a colored multipurpose tape made of strong vinyl material in addition to a rubber-based adhesive. This tape, named after its usefulness in a 5S Lean manufacturing techniques, is an excellent tool for labeling, marking off areas, and even for pipe marking and shelf labeling. How to Use 5S Tape The following is an extensive… …
What does a blue and white striped tape indicate?
Workers and bystanders are probably more familiar with the yellow and black striped hazard tape, also known as barricade tape, that is universal for alerting people of physical hazards. However, there are other hazard tapes that play an important role in the industrial world such as green and white for safety and first aid, or… …
What can reflective floor tape be used for?
Reflective floor tape is a specially designed type of floor marking tape that has reflective material incorporated onto the top of it. This material is able to reflect any light from the area so that it is easily visible even in relatively dark areas. There are many different situations where this type of floor marking… …
What does photoluminescent mean?
Photoluminescence is when something emits light from itself after absorbing electromagnetic radiation (photons) for a time. Materials that are photoluminescent will absorb these photons when they are placed in the light, and then emit them when it is dark. Depending on the type of material and other factors, it is possible for the item to… …
What floor marking can I use for emergency exits and evacuation routes?
Floor markings provide many benefits for occupational safety and health in virtually every industry. One of the most important of those benefits is safety improvement. For example, marking floors can help businesses better identify emergency exits and emergency routes. OSHA's egress regulation is 1910.36 - Design and construction requirements for exit routes. This is a standard… …
What are common floor markings in warehouses?
Warehouses are often massive facilities that contain thousands, or even millions, of different products. Keeping everything safe and organized is essential for success. The vast majority of warehouses today use a variety of different types of floor markings. Learn more about different floor marking categories and how warehouses can benefit from them to see how… …
What are common floor markings in factories?
While all industries can benefit from floor markings, factories are where they are most commonly used. A good floor marking strategy can help to eliminate waste, increase safety, and offer a variety of other benefits as well. There are many different types of floor markings that can be used in a factory setting, and choosing… …
What are floor marking color standards?
Floor marking color standards can be used for a variety of different things in the workplace. Sometimes they are chosen to help remain in compliance with regulations from OSHA or other agencies, and other times to help with safety, organization, or other efforts within the organization. Regardless of the specific purpose of floor marking color… …
How does floor marking help 5S or Lean methods?
When trying to implement workplace improvement methodologies such as 5S or Lean, you will need to take advantage of every tool possible. Floor markings are one of the best tools for getting the most out of each of these strategies. With proper markings, a company can dramatically reduce waste, improve efficiency, and ensure things are… …
How does floor marking improve safety?
Floor markings are used for many different things in the workplace, but the most common is likely to improve safety. A good floor marking strategy can dramatically reduce the risks of accidents and injuries in just about every industry. There are many ways that these markings can reduce the risks in the workplace, and understanding… …
What is floor tape and what are the benefits?
Floor tape, commonly called floor marking tape, is a special type of tape that is designed specifically to be applied to the floors, primarily in workplaces. This tape has a powerful adhesive that helps to ensure it will stick in place for years, even under harsh working conditions. Millions of companies across virtually every industry… …
Why should I use floor marking?
When looking for ways to improve a workplace there are no shortage of options. Many companies have discovered that using a well-thought out floor marking strategy can offer a large number of important benefits at a very low cost. No matter what industry you are in, floor markings can help to facilitate many improvements. Improving Safety Floor… …
Should I train employees on floor marking?
Installing floor markings in a facility is a good way to keep things organized and running efficiently. A good floor marking plan can also help to improve the overall safety of the facility. No matter how good your floor marking strategy is, however, it won’t be effective if employees aren’t properly trained on what the… …
How do I install industrial floor tape?
Installing industrial floor tape is a surprisingly easy process, and one that can be completed without any need to shut down a facility. When done properly, the tape will be securely attached to the floor so it can remain in place for years without any trouble. The following instructions will help ensure the installation process… …
What are OSHA aisle marking requirements?
OSHA has many rules and regulations that are put in place to help keep employees and others safe in the workplace. Complying with all these regulations is important not only for the improved safety results, but also to avoid fines and penalties that can occur should OSHA discover that your facility is not meeting the… …
Should floor markings be permanent?
When creating a floor marking plan there are many decisions that need to be made. One of them is whether the floor markings that are used should be permanent or not. If the markings are only needed for one day, weekend, or event, temporary markings are the obvious choice. More often, however, the question will… …
What are some lesser-known floor marking uses?
Just about everyone knows that floor markings are used in many ways across a wide-range of different industries. People see floor marking tape used in aisles at a supermarket, to mark off traffic lanes in manufacturing facilities, and much more. Floor markings, however, can also be used in many lesser-known ways that can provide some… …
What are the most durable floor markings?
Floor markings can be used in many different environments ranging from offices to industrial manufacturing. Finding the right types of markings for each situation is important to the success of any strategy. For manufacturing facilities where forklifts, high-lows, and other heavy equipment is used, it is critical to find the most durable floor markings possible. Options… …
What is the difference between floor marking tape and floor paint?
Floor markings are used in just about every industry. Whether it is a warehouse that needs aisles marked off, a manufacturing facility that needs to keep people safe, or even a supermarket that wants to section off departments, floor markings are an essential tool. There are even times when using floor markings is a requirement… …
What are different types of floor marking?
Floor markings are used throughout many industries to accomplish many goals. Sometimes a company will use floor markings because they are required by OSHA regulations, and other times it will be to help improve safety or organization in the facility. No matter why a company needs to mark their floors, it is important to use… …
What are OSHA's floor marking guidelines?
When planning out a floor marking standard for a facility, it is important by starting with what is required. In many workplaces there will be requirements from OSHA on what type of markings there are, and how they are used. Getting a good understanding of these guidelines will help with planning any type of floor… …
Why is floor marking important?
Finding ways to improve the safety and efficiency of a workplace is very important. There are many ways that this can be done, but few are as effective as using floor markings. These markings are a great option because they don’t take up any space, and they can convey almost any message that is needed. There… …
What are floor marking standards?
When shopping for floor markings it is easy to become overwhelmed. There are many different types of markings including floor marking tape, shapes, arrows, words, and many others. This can make it hard to know which markings should be used in which places. A company that decides to use too many types of floor markings… …
Investing in floor marking is one of the most cost-effective, impactful safety and efficiency efforts a facility can make. Without a floor marking strategy, facility floors are just wide-open spaces that can easily become cluttered and hazardous for employees and visitors.
Floor paint has historically been the go-to choice for floor marking, but today, there is a range of alternatives:
- Floor Tape: Solid floor tapes come in a rainbow of colors and finishes (reflective, glow-in-the-dark, anti-slip), making application opportunities virtually limitless. Using floor tapes with an established color-coded system, you can easily designate storage areas for work items, mark off work areas (WIP, finished goods, scrap, etc.), reinforce safety practices, establish warehouse traffic patterns, and so much more.
- Inline Printed Tape: SafetyTac® inline printed tape allows facilities to install industrial floor tape with a specific message. We offer a wide range of messages including bilingual options, safety tape (Danger, Caution, Warning), organizational tapes, and even tapes printed with hazard symbols.
- Industrial Floor Shapes: Vinyl floor marking shapes can be used by themselves or alongside floor tape to elevate an existing floor marking strategy; corners and T's are great for creating storage areas, X's and dots are ideal for marking boundaries, and footprint stickers and arrows can be used to designate pedestrian pathways or indicate the flow of traffic.
- Floor Signs: Reinforce workplace safety or remind workers of your 5S project by using floor signs as part of an overall visual communication standard. Just like wall signs, we have floor signs for traffic control, hazard communication, workplace safety, facility efficiency, and more.
- Indestructible Floor Marking: High-traffic environments or surfaces where tape or paint cannot hold up, virtual floor signs are a long-lasting solution. Bright, easy-to-read safety messages are projected on the floor, and are indestructible against forklifts, hazardous chemicals, and can be displayed on any surface.
At Creative Safety Supply, we're passionate about floor marking. It's a versatile and cost-effective option that can benefit many kinds of workplaces, from schools to manufacturing facilities to healthcare facilities.
Getting Started
- Don't know which floor tape is right for your facility? Check out our Floor Tape Finder.
- Want to learn more about facility marking? Explore our workplace labeling resources.
- Have a question about floor marking? Browse our floor marking Q&A hub.
- Ready to get started? Shop our selection of floor tapes, shapes and signs.
Floor Marking Infographics
Marking Floors to Communicate Social Distancing
Marking floors is the most effective way to communicate social distancing. The CDC recommends that workers, visitors, and customers are able… …
Stop Buying Labels from a Catalog
Six reasons you should stop buying labels from a catalog and start printing your own labels with an industrial label… …
Industrial Floor Tape vs. Industrial Floor Paint
Industrial Floor Tape vs. Industrial Floor Paint The average factory in the U.S. is 600,000 square feet. Many of them contain… …
Forklift Accidents: Causes and Prevention
Forklift Accidents: Causes and Prevention There are approximately one million active forklifts in the United States. It is estimated that 11%… …
Floor Marking Podcasts
Forklifts vs. pedestrians. Who has to stop? People on foot technically have the right-of-way. But some say powered industrial trucks should hold sway. Safety expert Jonathan Jacobi, of Underwriters Laboratories, tells how some companies ask walking workers to cede their right-of-way… …
Starting A Visual Workplace should not mean you’ll get a pink slip because of workplace efficiency. Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth explains. In this 2nd podcast with Dr. Galsworth, she points out that Visuality will create new efficiencies in the workplace. However, workers… …
Starting A Visual Workplace—improving efficiency with Visuality. Dr. Gwendolyn Galsworth explains better work flow through visual devices. Dr. Galsworth defines the Visual Workplace as “A work environment that is self ordering, self explaining, self regulating and self improving where what is… …
10 Rules For Forklift Safety can keep drivers and pedestrians safe on the job. Some forklift safety tips are obvious, some not-so. New drivers and experienced pros can benefit from this podcast. Brandon Nys interviews Antonio Ferraro, one of the blog… …
Slips, trips and falls. Who would think they cause 15 percent of on-the-job deaths? Hear about prevention and OSHA’s proposed new walking-working surfaces rule. Good footwear, guardrails and housekeeping are just a few of the tips Dan Clark offers to avoid… …
Loading dock safety is difficult to manage because of constantly moving vehicles, people and materials. Listen to this podcast for tips on improving safety at your loading dock. Workers should beware of trucks backing up trailers, forklifts and other powered transport… …
Warehouse traffic can be a safety battle. A battle of people vs. machines. Too often, the machines win. Struck-by accidents in 2012 alone claimed the lives of 199 people on the job. With better planning, those lives could have been saved.… …
Exit route violations are very common in OSHA inspections. Make access to unobstructed, well marked workplace exit routes a priority. We detail the finer points of exit routes in this podcast. We discuss the three parts to an exit route: exit… …
Stacking and storing materials on pallets or shelves must be done with a solid plan for warehouse safety. If not, workers could be crushed and pinned or otherwise injured. Collapsing loads can be avoided by observing the weight and height limits… …
Fall protection is critical near ledges, manholes, catwalks, windows and other openings and holes. Falls are one of the leading causes of death and injury in the workplace, and here we give tips on how to avoid them. Good fall protection… …
Reflective tape gives safety an uptick in the workplace. It’s a long lasting, inexpensive way to visually warn workers of hazards. This type of tape champions safety in dimly lit and dark areas indoors and outdoors. Warehouse floors and walls with… …
Workplace hazards are sometimes hidden in plain sight. Workers and managers need to be aware of 10 dangerous hotspots in facilities. Fall protection is needed on ledges, stairs and places people may slip and fall. Air quality is often ignored because… …
Lean safety is the result of implementing “lean” methodology. Lean makes businesses less wasteful, more efficient and more profitable. An efficient workplace is a safer workplace. Simultaneous increases in efficiency and safety are seen at a Minnesota factory. The assembly line… …
Safety tape, the floor marking tape, is better than painting lines on a factory floor. Keep workers safe with color coding that lasts a long time. Employees can avoid struck-by accidents if their work area is visually marked. Clean the floors… …
This is a surprise! OSHA does NOT have requirements for safety color coding in the workplace. But ANSI does. The American National Standards Institute suggests labeling areas with seven colors for safety or organizational categories. Use the same color scheme throughout… …