Does the theory of the use of color for designating different levels of hazard severity actually work?
The theory behind the use of clearly defined specific standardized safety colors is that through their long term use, people will come to intuitively understand the different degrees of hazard seriousness associated with each color’s use on safety signs and labels. This theory only works if the colors are visually different. And that’s the reason behind the ANSI Z535 standards mandating that safety colors fall within very tight (and clearly separate) color boundaries as shown on the spectrum locus curve (a chart that visually represents the visible color spectrum). If you think this it’s impossible to use color to convey meaning, consider the very specific dark yellow color that’s used for school buses and NYC taxi cabs. When you see a vehicle in either of these two respective shapes and in this color, you know what you are looking at – there is no confusion that the school bus is a truck or the cab is a passenger car. As for designating degrees of hazard seriousness with color, one on
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