A survey on the level of understanding of pictograms for Lab Safety

Pictograms for lab safety can be a very important communication tool for preventing harm to foreign students and researchers who cannot understand the foreign language in their research labs. To be effective, pictograms should be understandable without learning the meaning, not only for foreign students, but also Japanese students or academic staff in universities. A preliminary survey was carried out to see how many Japanese students can understand the meaning of such pictograms. Twenty different symbols, which included some GHS1) symbols and other safety-related symbols in our daily life, were selected. The results of the survey for graduate students working in the materials science and engineering department indicated that, on average, the probability of understanding the meaning of the sign correctly was only 58%, and the probability of misunderstanding was 25%. Even a GHS sign which indicated "Health Hazard" was understood by just 17% students, and 54% of the students misunderstood it. These results suggest that it is necessary to teach the meaning of pictograms, and more easily understood signs should be designed for lab safety.