An increasing number of warehouses and manufacturing facilities are utilising LED projected safety signage, cutting maintenance costs and reducing business downtime, according to a new guide from Projected Image.
The Newcastle-based company are the leading UK suppliers of LED gobo projectors and gobos, specialising in projected safety signage for industrial environments. Projected Image have released The Ultimate Guide to Projected Signage, aimed at helping businesses make the switch to projected signage as seamless as possible.
Whilst painted signage remains widely used across busy sites, it degrades quickly under forklift traffic, cleaning regimes and heavy footfall, with repainting shutting down warehouse areas for maintenance.
“Painted floor markings chip and fade faster than most businesses expect, especially in high-traffic areas. Once that happens, you’re either running with signage that’s no longer clearly visible, or you need to close areas to repaint them.” says Ian Spoors, Managing Director of Projected Image.
Projected signage uses high-powered LED gobo projectors to shine bright safety markings onto floors, walls and doors. Projected signage also has a significantly longer lifespan than paint, with no risk of deterioration from wear and tear and heavy traffic.
The comprehensive guide highlights that faded or overly familiar signage can lead to “sign blindness,” where staff stop registering safety markings altogether, putting sites at risk of falling short of HSE visibility requirements.
“Sign blindness is a real problem in warehouses. When markings fade, or when staff walk past the same worn sign every day, it stops doing its job. Projected signage stays bright and consistent, so safety messages stay in people’s minds,” adds Ian.
The guide also points to easy installation as a major advantage of projected signs. Projected Image’s LED gobo projectors are designed to plug into a standard socket and mount using a pre-installed bracket. This means a projector can be installed quickly, without having to shut down areas of the warehouse for hours on end.
“Speed of installation makes a real difference. Instead of shutting down part of a warehouse for half a day to repaint, you can have a projector up and running in no time, and the safety signage is immediately visible. That matters in fast-moving environments,” says Ian.
The guide also draws on case studies from across UK and Irish industry. A leading renewables manufacturer worked with Projected Image, and electrical contractor Alan Benfield, to install sensor-triggered gobo projectors; illuminating pedestrian warning signs only when forklift trucks approach. Food producer Dunbia adopted weatherproof units (rated to -20°C) for their cold storage areas, removing the contamination risk posed by flaking paint. Irish crane specialists , Hoistech, now mount projectors directly onto crane jibs, so Safe Operating Zone markings move with the equipment itself, something painted markings could never do.
Projected Image is also the only UK business to supply both powerful, IP-rated LED gobo projectors and the custom gobos that go inside them, with all gobos designed and manufactured in-house at their Newcastle-upon-Tyne offices.
“In many warehouses, painted or printed floor markings simply don’t last, and it costs more than people think for the maintenance. Projected signage gives you consistent visibility for years, with far less maintenance and far less disruption,” concludes Ian.
The full guide, covering site preparation, product selection, installation, automation and maintenance, is available now from Projected Image.
More information about Projected Image, along with the full guide, can be found at www.projectedimage.com
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