An Evaluation of the factors in comprehensibility of industrial warning safety signs for the color vision deficient population

• Main Author: Tiong, Joselisa Shiela Mary L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2014
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/4614
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study provides an analysis and evaluation of the effects of color and cognitive sign design features in the comprehensibility of ISO 7010 Safety signs measured in comprehension accuracy and speed. To determine if an individuals capability to see or perceive color differences affects their industrial safety signs comprehension speed and accuracy and to determine if increasing the concreteness, meaningfulness and simplicity of symbols used in industrial safety signs will make sign comprehension speed and accuracy the same for an individual with color vision deficiency and an individual without color vision deficiency. Concreteness of the safety sign were examined since color enhances the way humans perceive and recognize objects in the environment the concreteness of symbols should be examined with respect to the capacity color vision deficient people. Meaningfulness of the safety sign were also examined since color conveys a level of hazard that helps safety signs convey useful messages to make sign users aware of the potential hazards in the environment, the more meaningful color vision deficient population perceive the sign to be the more likely users will be understood correctly. And lastly simplicity of the safety sign were examined since the element of color adds to the details embedded in the safety signs effect of sign details should be examined with color since color vision deficient have a limited capacity in differentiating colors. Color has been identified to play a vital role in the comprehensibility of safety signs from grabbing the attention of its prospective users to conveying the information regarding the situation to prevent accidents. However as much as 5.17% (Cruz et al., 2010) of working population in the Philippines alone has difficulty in seeing or distinguishing color differences. This means that 5.17% of the Philippines population has a reduced comprehension speed and accuracy due to their capability to see or distinguish color differences. A series of research methods were conducted to examine the effect of color in the comprehension speed and accuracy of ISO 7010 Safety Signs, as well as the effects of cognitive sign design features in the comprehension speed and accuracy, to equalize the comprehension speed and accuracy for individuals with difficulty in seeing or distinguishing color differences and individuals with normal vision: First: Focus grouped discussion composed of managers, supervisors and engineers from different manufacturing facilities was held to determine the common ISO 7010 safety signs used in the manufacturing sector. Second: Data on speed and accuracy for the common safety signs identified in step one were collected by conducting an experiment. Safety signs examined were presented through a Microsoft Powerpoint slideshow, while the comprehension speed and accuracy was acquired by the researcher to determine which warning sign exhibits a difference in population means of the color vision and general population. The ratings of cognitive sign design feature which are concreteness (how the symbol depict objects that have recognizable connections with the environment), meaningfulness (users perception on how meaningful signs are) and simplicity (refers to safety sign content, elements or details), were also gathered in this step. Participants rated the safety signs presented as concrete or abstract, meaningful or meaningless and simply or complex. To determine the relationship of cognitive design features to safety sign comprehension speed and accuracy. Third: Participants are tasked to draw their preferred safety signs design for the safety signs identified in step two. Frequency table of participants drawing categories was developed to serve as models for the development of new safety signs designs. Forth: Data on speed and accuracy for the new safety signs designs developed in step three were collected by conducting an experiment similar to step two. Safety signs examined were also presented through a Microsoft Powerpoint slideshow and the comprehension speed and accuracy was also acquired by the researcher to determine if the new safety sign designs equalized the comprehension speed and accuracy of individuals with difficulty in seeing or distinguishing color differences and individuals with normal vision. The result of the study revealed that individuals capability to see or perceive color differences affects their industrial safety signs comprehension speed and accuracy and that increasing the concreteness, meaningfulness and simplicity of safety sign will mask the effect of color in safety sign comprehension that will equalize the comprehension speed and accuracy for individuals with difficulty in seeing or distinguishing color differences and individuals with normal vision. Overall, applying statistics and understanding thought process of interrogation would be one solution to address the issue on improving industrial safety sign comprehensibility. This research provided significant insights that can be used by safety sign designers on how to match the thought process or information-processing of users to speed up and increase the comprehensibility of industrial safety signs. This in turn would establish new theories regarding current safety sign designs in the manufacturing sector to increase comprehensibility of safety signs that will lead to accident prevention due to the quick location of safety equipment and response to dangerous situations.