Werner Announces New Visual Safety System Across its Climbing Portfolio

New visibly distinct on-product design, color and communication upgrades implemented on Werner ladders; new visual color- and symbol-based stepladders recognized by OH&S as Product of Year Award winner

Photo courtesy of Werner

Werner announced Aug. 30 the introduction of an entirely new visual safety system across their product line, including Werner Step Ladders, LEANSAFE Ladders, Extension Ladders and Podium ladders. This new visual safety system was also recently recognized by Occupational Health & Safety magazine as a winner in the “High Visibility” products category and will be recognized in the November/December issue of the publication. Werner products are used on job sites by professionals who rely on the company’s ladder innovations and accessories while working at height. The new design enhancements, rolling out now and through 2024, provide simple on-product safety cues that make it easier to choose the right ladder, use it correctly and communicate the importance of safety to everyone on the worksite.

“We’ve been on a two-year journey that has culminated in the introduction of new iconography and a visual color scheme that has never been done in our industry,” said Michael Melton, vice president and general manager for Safe Access Climbing at WernerCo. “These significant changes are based on years of planning, including in-the-field, purchaser and end-user research, which have led us to develop this new, innovative system to help customers better understand ladder safety and application use.”

Visual Colors and Easy-to-Understand Symbols Promote Culture of Safety

Werner will use specific colors and symbols to help convey critical information about ladder application and usage to continue promoting safety on the worksite. Distinct colors and easy-to-understand symbols that have visual cues and meaning will help employers and employees stay safe. The new initiative will include standardized rail and label colors for duty ratings, high-visibility yellow on ladder tops and bottoms, and an iconographic product and safety labeling system for simpler, multilingual communication. This new visual safety system began rolling out in July 2023 and will continue through 2024.

The four key pro-focused user enhancements will include:

Duty rating rail color and high-impact labeling: Standardized colors for clear and consistent duty ratings and larger more visible duty rating labels make it easy for users, safety directors and procurement teams to choose and identify the right ladder on-site and at purchase. The new duty rating color and labeling has been added to step and extension ladders.
High-visibility yellow on ladder caps, tops and feet: The use of yellow, a primary color that symbolizes caution and visibility, is the brightest color in the spectrum and widely used for safety. The high-visibility ladder tops will provide long-range and roofline visibility for pros working at height. In addition, high-visibility feet on step ladders draw peripheral vision to ladder feet to avoid kicks or trips. These visual cues signal safety across the job site.
Universally understood iconographic product and safety labeling: New iconography provides simpler, multilingual communication needs. Specific iconography was developed to provide a visual-based system that would communicate to users who speak any language. These visual icons needed to be easy to see and digest, even at a glance. This new labeling system also links to additional materials as needed using QR codes for multi-language video access and other content for real-time training.
Enhanced ladder top designs for step ladders: New ladder tops on the 6200, 6300 and NXT series will solve unique tool storage solutions for fiberglass step ladders where professionals need it most. These ladder top enhancements include a patented holder for impact drivers, carabiner tether points to reduce dropped object injuries, lock-in connection receivers for a wide range of accessories and tool inserts for a wide variety of professionals’ most used tools.

These new design and communication changes are critical to creating and ensuring safe working environments. Werner climbing products and platforms will begin to transition in support of this new initiative, including hundreds of product models/SKUs. Because this is a rolling change and the model numbers are staying the same, there will be no disruption to customer orders during the transition period. Visit wernerco.com for specific product updates as the visual safety system rolls out across the portfolio.