What Safety Decals Are Required in Commercial Kitchens? A Guide to OSHA and Food Service Safety

Common Questions About Commercial Kitchen Safety Decals

What material holds up best against grease, steam, and constant washdowns in a commercial kitchen?

For most commercial kitchen safety decals, we recommend Calendered Vinyl with lamination — a 3 mil vinyl with a UV- and scratch-resistant topcoat rated for up to 5 years outdoors, sealed against grease splatter and repeated sanitizer wipe-downs. For decals that need to outlast years of heavy back-of-house use, Cast Vinyl offers up to 8 years of outdoor durability and is the material behind our Premium Safety warning labels. For wall-mounted safety posters that take a beating from carts and foot traffic, a non-slip floor decal or wall decal built for high-traffic back-of-house areas is worth considering instead of paper signage. 

What sizes do commercial kitchen safety decals come in?

Small equipment and caution decals typically run from 2 inches up to about 12 inches — enough for fryer panels, mixer bowls, walk-in doors, and prep station edges. Custom Warning Labels are sized from 1" x 1" up to 8" x 8" through the standard size selector, while Custom Equipment Decals scale all the way up to 52" x 120" for larger panels or wall-mounted safety posters and evacuation diagrams. We size every order to your equipment and wall space instead of forcing you into one standard template — and if you need something outside the standard range, our team builds a custom quote around it. 

Do you offer templates for standard OSHA warning symbols, or do I need to submit custom artwork?

You can submit your own artwork — including your logo, brand colors, or bilingual text — or design directly in our free online designer. Our team sets it up using standard hazard color coding (red for danger, orange for warning, yellow for caution, blue for mandatory notices). If you're not sure how to lay out a compliant label, our custom warning labels page walks through the format most inspectors expect to see, and ANSI's overview of the Z535.4 product safety sign and label standard covers the format requirements behind that expectation in more depth. 

How much do bulk orders of kitchen safety decals cost?

Pricing scales with quantity and size. Larger orders move into tiered bulk pricing, which brings the per-unit cost down significantly — useful for multi-location restaurant groups that need identical caution, warning, and equipment decals across every kitchen. Minimum order is a single decal, so a single-location kitchen can order exactly what it needs without paying for extra stock. 

How fast can I get safety decals printed and shipped?

Production runs 1 to 5 business days depending on the turnaround option you choose at checkout (Priority, Express, Standard, or Saver), plus transit time — most U.S. addresses see delivery in about 2–4 business days after production via standard UPS Ground. See our production times and shipping info pages for full details. If a health inspection is coming up or you're opening a new location, place your order with a buffer before the walkthrough. 

How do I install decals on stainless steel equipment or tile walls without leaving residue?

Surfaces need to be clean, dry, and free of grease film before application, or adhesion won't hold in a hot kitchen environment. Our clear decal application guide covers surface prep and squeegee technique step by step, and the same method applies to stainless steel, tile, and laminate surfaces just as well as glass. Our full library of installation guides covers die-cut, kiss-cut, and transfer-cut application methods. 

Can these decals be removed or replaced without damaging equipment surfaces?

Yes. Removable-adhesive options are available for equipment that gets swapped or leased through a supplier, and even permanent-adhesive decals can be removed cleanly with heat and a plastic scraper rather than a metal blade. Our decal removal walkthrough shows the full process if you need to replace outdated safety information without scratching stainless steel.