AS1319-1994 Australian Standards
Seems to be a lot of confusion with AS1319-1994 Australian Standards for Warning Signs. Particularly, Caution Vs Warning Signs.
In Australia, we don’t use ‘Caution’ signs combined with the Hazard triangle. They should be ‘Warning’. Unfortunately, these Caution signs are creeping into our industry from overseas. Australia used to use Caution Signs, but decided to change to Warning. Indeed, all new signs manufactured for warning should now comply with AS1319-1994. Even so, old Caution Signs may still exist. If so, they are OK to leave up.
Caution Vs Warning Signs
Most importantly, Warning signs are to warn of hazards and conditions that are not likely to be life-threatening. The Hazard symbol ( ! ) should be black on a yellow background and a triangle should be depicted around the symbol. Also, Warning sign wording, is in black lettering on a yellow background.
To Comply to Australian AS1319-1994 Standards, The word ‘Caution’ should not be used here. Similarly, there are Safety Signs in the field that have Caution as a header, without the hazard triangle. These Caution signs are OK to use, but do not really comply. Regularly seen in the field, Signs such as ‘Caution, constantly stopping’ or ‘Proceed with Caution’ have been around for years. Indeed, these Caution signs are OK to use as they don’t include the Hazard symbol (triangle with exclamation mark). See another post
HERE
Hazard Symbols
Hazard Symbols may be used within Warning Signs such as this example: Slippery when wet sign. Also, this one: Electrical Hazard sign. Australia also uses the globally harmonised system for Hazard Symbols. These are for packaging and you can see them here: GHS Labels
