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(from a doctor’s clinic)

There has to be a more systemic fix than just asking staff to be careful… staff are always supposed to double check meds anyway…

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Multiple Notices on Door

Sometime one sign is not enough. Do you really want to enter? Use caution.

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If you follow the “Use your call light” instruction, let’s hope the nurses and techs can respond… or really it should be said that we hope the processes and systems ALLOW the nurses to have the time to respond.

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Do you really need standardized work for this???

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I guess the sign that was already there wasn’t good enough…

One example:

Source: Huffington Post

Maybe you should keep your blade away from my fingers????

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If you are not careful you could damage this equipment. Be More Careful!

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How many bad workplace signs that don’t get to the root cause are enabled by Microsoft Office clip art?

Think how many hospital fistfights we can prevent from people not bumping into each other!

If the identical looking clear syringes are THAT easy to mix up, isn’t better error proofing required?

Found at a hospital. That’s just a weird poster.

This portable air conditioning unit was in the public area of the terminal (the main hallway) at JFK airport in New York, right near the gates. See the picture below. If the units are THAT dangerous, why in the world would you leave them sitting out where somebody could bump into them? My guess is that they really just don’t want you touching them so you don’t break them.

The sign on this door isn’t working.

Not once but twice.  Look door stop included for your convenience.

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Who designed a toilet that needs instructions to operate properly or is there another problem?

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It’s not exactly a workplace poster, but an insert in a new travel mug. Be careful! I hate it when liquid escapes from the “drink hole.” I’m surprised Starbucks or McDonald’s don’t have a warning like that on their cups.

FEMA is auctioning these trailers that were used as housing after Hurricane Katrina. The stickers really don’t prevent that use, do they? The auctioner said they are only “for recreational uses” not housing.

Better to design the elevator so it doesn’t explode if you press both buttons? From a hotel in New York City.

Pictures from near / outside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. Yes, falling down stairs is certainly NOT a good idea. First picture from a stairwell, second picture is from just outside the Chapel.

Note: the “no talking” sign didn’t prevent talking, nor did the “no pictures” sign prevent photos (I was respectful and didn’t take pictures inside the Chapel).

Most. Ironic. Post. Ever. BP gas station says “Warning, don’t spill.”

A doorway inside the Tube in London. I’ve never seen so many warning signs. Might as well say “Danger: Man-Eating Jungle Cat Inside.”

At a constructions site in a poor conditions sign.  If they are so bad I hope the workers are safe.

If you look close it is cover a No Soliciting sign.  I wonder if the poor site conditions sign is really getting after soliciting.

Contributed by Tim McMahon:

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Taken on a public sidewalk in a construction zone. I can only assume there is a “CAUTION: DON’T HIT PEDESTRIANS!!” sign on the other side of that door that opens out?

Why create an adjustable rack with the bottom shelf positioned so it can damage the product.  Do you really think more exclamations helps?

Contributed by Tim McMahon:

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This would be hard to error proof since the holes in the drain are round and so are noodles…

Why was this be designed so it will be jammed every time it be used? Warning: it will bad grammar-ed!

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Toilet Fan Fail

Open the door slowly to avoid colliding with someone in the hallway.  There must be a better way. How about having the door open in instead of out?

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We “promise” we will “be” more “careful” in the future. Warning, unnecessary quotation marks!

What is so important about the left light switch that it must be left on. Why?

By the way I took photo just before removing label that has been on for over 10 years since no one knew what it meant anymore.

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We should hang a sign on that product designer’s desk that says “Warning: Users might reach inside, prevent them from doing so until after motion stops.” No amount of “be careful” can protect you from something that’s badly designed.

The lab employees thank the company that designed a centrifuge that could kill you if it’s not balanced properly. The lab also thanks management for buying such a contraption.

Chances are, you’ve already hit “Print” before walking over to see this caution. Is there a deeper root cause to the “28lb Type 2 error”?

Contributed by Tim McMahon:

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From a hospital… would you literally lose a hand or arm if you didn’t move away from the window? Fire protection is good, but couldn’t there be a sensor or some safety device to make sure somebody doesn’t get hurt by the shutter?

I had to draw a recreation of this sign I saw behind the counter at the C^3 coffee shop in Cambridge, MA since I couldn’t get a good picture of it.

Here is a sign hung at Wrigley Field, if you’re sitting in the very very back row of the center field bleachers (behind and under the scoreboard basically):

CAUTION: LOW HEAD CLEARANCE!

This door has handles which make you want to pull the door open while in fact you need to PUSH as the signs say.

Thanks to Tim McMahon for this photo:

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But those germs look way too cute and friendly to kill anybody

We will increase the number of NOs on the signs until mistakes stop!

Photo Illustration by Mark Graban

Would something like this have helped prevent this woman’s house from being knocked down by mistake? Sad situation, completely preventable. Prevention requires more than warnings and signs, eh?

See www.leanblog.org for a more detailed post on this scenario and warning signs on 4/30 (direct link)

We cannot afford to replace drawer – hospital broke!?!?

Don’t let the door hit your face on the way in!

I’d like to hang a sign that says “Don’t be so clear and transparent…. please!”

What else do you have to do, other than hang this sign? Safety problems solved.

For hospitals, a nice variation would be : BE CAREFUL Avoid Infecting Patients. Yup, solved.

You can actually buy this sign, if you want, online. Buy the $60 sign, as I’m sure bigger is better.

At a BBQ restaurant at DFW Airport. First, the sign is nasty and dirty looking. A laminated sign would do wonders for the “last impressions” for the customer.

Better yet would be a trash can with a round template that makes it impossible to throw away the tray. This is a lean concept called “poka yoke” — aka “mistake proofing” or “error proofing.”

This is a picture sent by a friend. He broke his collar bone in a bike accident. Clearly it was the other collarbone.

The patient asked:

Shouldn’t they have been able to tell which one was broken?

That was probably true in this case, but it’s a generally accepted patient safety practice to mark the surgical site (in this case they marked the “wrong” side). It’s probably better to ALWAYS follow the process, even when it seems silly, instead of picking and choosing when you have to mark the site. When it’s an ACL repair, it’s less obvious which knee was damaged and a wrong-site error could occur.

More info on “Correct Site Surgery” (a positive view) from the AORN: LINK

Poor woman has to go through a door that’s about 4.5 feet high, and then duck under a pipe. Maybe a little padding in the door frame would help, for when somebody inevitably hits their head anyway.