B Reactor Health Physics Exhibit: Painted Warnings

The Painted Warnings panel in the Health Physics Exhibit.

See exhibit panel for specific image credits.

Main Text
Text at the left reads: “Imagine going to work with your lunch box and paintbrush and spending most of your day painstakingly hand painting the phrase, ‘Do Not Open During Reactor Operation.’ Would you use different fonts, an exclamation point, or perhaps two different colors to capture attention? Whatever your choice, the sign you would make is critical for warning your coworkers of dangers in the workplace.

“In the Hanford Sign Shop, sign painters faced these decisions daily. Their signs had to catch workers’ attention and communicate dangers such as the risk of potential exposure to high doses of radiation or chemicals.

“Some of Hanford’s sign painters had backgrounds in art or graphic design. Experienced painters, called journeymen, trained many who did not have an art background on the job. To qualify as a journeyman, one had to demonstrate the ability to hand paint in at least three different fonts. How many fonts can you hand paint?”

Text reads: “It was possible to tell which painter made a sign by the technique used. For example, some painters would dot an ‘i’ with a diamond while others would use a circle.

“Hanford sign painters were the beginning of what would become an important part of nuclear safety around the world today - the use of standardized signs to warn of workplace dangers.”

Text below reads: “Hand-painted safety signs were ubiquitous on the Hanford site and addressed a variety of industrial safety hazards.”

Text below reads: “Before development of the radiation trefoil yellow and magenta warning signs, Hanford used octagonal warning signs.”

Exhibit Panel Description
A black-and-white background image shows workers in the paint and print shop surrounded by dozens of signs and illustrations plastered across the walls. Text at the bottom informs that hand-painted safety signs were ubiquitous on the Hanford site and addressed a variety of industrial safety hazards.

At the right, two circular, inset black and white photographs show a woman and man sitting in front of easels.

At the bottom center, an inset photograph shows a worker holding a sign reading, “Danger, overhead work.” Just to the right, a second photograph shows a stop-sign shaped sign with the words, “Radiation danger zone, keep out.”

Visit This Exhibit Panel
In-person visitation of the B Reactor is only authorized on guided tours offered by the Department of Energy.