Pipe Marking Questions and Answers

In virtually every industry, if you look up toward the ceiling, or under the floor, you will find pipes running in nearly every direction. These pipes transport a wide range of different things to different areas within a building so that everything can function properly.

At first glance, it will seem that these pipes are positioned randomly, and it would be very difficult to determine what each one contained and where it was going. Companies that follow the ANSI/ASME pipe labeling standards will be able to easily see what is contained in each pipe, which direction the contents are flowing, and other essential information. This helps to ensure the facility can operate safely by reducing the risk of someone opening a faucet on a pipe without knowing what will come out. It also makes it much easier to find the source of leaks and other problems.

Topics covered:
The following brief posts will answer many of the most common questions related to pipe markings. Some of the topics that will be discussed include:

• Pipe marking standards: Many people expect that the way pipes are marked would be regulated by OSHA or some other governmental agency. The fact is, that while OSHA does recommend following the ANSI/ASME standards, they are not technically required. However, OSHA could issue citations on basic workplace safety violations if someone were hurt or there were other issues that would have been prevented by having proper pipe markings.
• How to label pipes and where: Visual communication is incredibly important to the safety of employees and that can be guaranteed if the facility used existing standards to determine the verbiage and colors of pipe marking labels.
• Where pipe labels are needed: Pipe labels are needed everywhere that there are pipes due to the dangers that they may present if misidentified. We will go over this in more depth within the Q&A section.

Whether your facility is just looking to improve safety and efficiency, or you want to get in line with industry best practices, a good pipe marking strategy is a must. Fortunately, ANSI’s pipe marking standards are easy to understand, and making the labels is quite simple.