A place I was recently at had an interesting way of marking the electrical panel circuits:
The folks who worked here were not literate in English...nor, probably, in their native tongue, either.
I should point out that the exposed breakers control the lights; the panel has breakers in every space, and the panel cover is intact. The cardboard is there only to prevent somone from flipping the wrong breakers.
In my opinion unless you speak the language you shouldn't be allowed to work in an environment where your ability to read the language/signs could mean the difference between life and death. Seems like a quick way to make a widow a rich lady.
In an industrial setting the Europeans have the right solution by using symbols for everything. As funny as it may be this skull and cross bones is probably a very good universal 'go away' indicator.
Reminds me of the conveyor systems at our site. Some have signs that say 'caution: pinch point' while others have the graphic of a hand being separated from the fingers between two rollers. It looks a little stupid but gets the point across.
RSlater, RSmike
Re: Truth in Panel ID#124315 09/11/0603:56 PM09/11/0603:56 PM
Doing new construction I'm constantly scaring the non-english speaking sheetrockers/insulators/cabinet-guys/tin-knockers/paint-sloppers/tile-guys/landscapers (am I missing anyone? ) away from our temp. panels and permanent closets.
I've been meaning to get a bi-lingual sign to discourage people from touching our stuff, and I do believe putting a scull-and-cross-bones on it would really get the point across. Right between DANGER/PELIGRO!
-John
[This message has been edited by BigJohn (edited 09-16-2006).]
Re: Truth in Panel ID#124319 09/16/0610:21 PM09/16/0610:21 PM
Wish that would have worked around here, first big project I was on, it didnt matter how you labelled or locked the panel, someone would ignore the warning, or pry the lock off and start messing about with the breakers!! A.D