Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology includes the survey development
and appropriate statistical analyses. In total, 92 Hong Kong Chinese participated voluntarily in the
study. A questionnaire survey was used to collect information about demographics, personal
experience on safety and health issues, experience of reviewing safety sign information,
comprehension scores, and the ratings of sign features for 30 industrial safety signs used in
Hong Kong. The effect of ten user factors on sign understanding for the design of highly usable safety
signs was examined.