The Five Man Electrical Band (originally The Staccatos) was a rock group from Canada's capital city of Ottawa, best known for their 1971 hit single€Signs€, a song that greatly popularized the somewhat unknown Canadian rock group simply dubbed Five Man Electrical Band, who wrote and performed it for their second album, Good-byes and Butterflies. The lyrics explain how our world is filled with simplistic literature and express many difficult situations that the common man experiences.
The following few lines extracted here from the song €Sign, signs everywhere a sign €¦blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind€¦do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?€ tend to state my case today in a nutshell. Too many of these informational signs dangling freely about the workplace makes little or no sense.
When the song was first released many thought it was an environmental protest song reacting against society's encroachment on Mother Nature's outdoor splendor and unspoiled beauty by the proliferation of billboards and notices seemingly popping up all over the countryside.
Today this encroachment has noticeably reared its ugly head indoors in the workplace. In my own warehouse workplace setting an overabundance of floating €info signs€ have magically appeared overnight and are dangled haphazardly and somewhat promiscuously about the workplace creating not only an eyesore for the staff but also creating definite clutter and personal safety concerns.
It's difficult to safely drive forklifts and other types of heavy industrial machinery when a multitude of placards and postings effectively block your field of vision and hang gaudily from the wareouse rafters. You have the signs and pedestrians and other machine drivers to be aware of and oftentime this makes work that much more challenging.
The many signs in question proudly extoll the firms' plans and goals, safety concerns and other sundry issues. Signs not only instruct our staff where trash cans should be placed but also more importantly which type of container should be used.
Yellow marking tape on the floor shows everyone where the container must be located. A poster on the wall by each trash bin dramatically illustrates the proper waste receptacle. The amount of free floor space has been compromised by placards, tape and other corporate toys. Mops are flagged with a card, picture and tape on the floor.
Local management's managers, the big kahunas, paid a visit to the warehouse a few weeks ago. The visitors thought all the signs were ok but lacked a certain something. What was that certain something that would add pizzaz to the place? You guessed it. More signs but with pictures added to depict what the signs related to would fit the bill nicely. Larger signs. More congestion. Greater clutter. More safety concerns.
Management's overly obsessive preoccupation with this form of intrusive sign language might just create an overabundance of employees seeking refuge from this overly visual and physically intrusive stimulation. Sick days, vacation time or just down time could be the results of this entire managerial fiasco.
During the summer months the shipping doors are left open to allow cooler air to enter the building. Many times small birds and the occasional seagull fly into the building. With all the signage now dangling from the building it'll be a miracle if the birds can fly about without knocking themselves out. Even bat radar (yes we did have a bat fly into the premises a few years ago) will not save these creatures from knocking themselves out. So much for the printed word making an impression.
The following few lines extracted here from the song €Sign, signs everywhere a sign €¦blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind€¦do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?€ tend to state my case today in a nutshell. Too many of these informational signs dangling freely about the workplace makes little or no sense.
When the song was first released many thought it was an environmental protest song reacting against society's encroachment on Mother Nature's outdoor splendor and unspoiled beauty by the proliferation of billboards and notices seemingly popping up all over the countryside.
Today this encroachment has noticeably reared its ugly head indoors in the workplace. In my own warehouse workplace setting an overabundance of floating €info signs€ have magically appeared overnight and are dangled haphazardly and somewhat promiscuously about the workplace creating not only an eyesore for the staff but also creating definite clutter and personal safety concerns.
It's difficult to safely drive forklifts and other types of heavy industrial machinery when a multitude of placards and postings effectively block your field of vision and hang gaudily from the wareouse rafters. You have the signs and pedestrians and other machine drivers to be aware of and oftentime this makes work that much more challenging.
The many signs in question proudly extoll the firms' plans and goals, safety concerns and other sundry issues. Signs not only instruct our staff where trash cans should be placed but also more importantly which type of container should be used.
Yellow marking tape on the floor shows everyone where the container must be located. A poster on the wall by each trash bin dramatically illustrates the proper waste receptacle. The amount of free floor space has been compromised by placards, tape and other corporate toys. Mops are flagged with a card, picture and tape on the floor.
Local management's managers, the big kahunas, paid a visit to the warehouse a few weeks ago. The visitors thought all the signs were ok but lacked a certain something. What was that certain something that would add pizzaz to the place? You guessed it. More signs but with pictures added to depict what the signs related to would fit the bill nicely. Larger signs. More congestion. Greater clutter. More safety concerns.
Management's overly obsessive preoccupation with this form of intrusive sign language might just create an overabundance of employees seeking refuge from this overly visual and physically intrusive stimulation. Sick days, vacation time or just down time could be the results of this entire managerial fiasco.
During the summer months the shipping doors are left open to allow cooler air to enter the building. Many times small birds and the occasional seagull fly into the building. With all the signage now dangling from the building it'll be a miracle if the birds can fly about without knocking themselves out. Even bat radar (yes we did have a bat fly into the premises a few years ago) will not save these creatures from knocking themselves out. So much for the printed word making an impression.
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