Food Safety Culture – Color-Coding for the Color-Blind

Food manufacturing facilities frequently utilize color-coded tools and workstations to establish zones of control. These zones can designate areas where allergens are handled to prevent cross-contact incidents, separate raw materials from finished products to avoid contamination issues, or visually represent different shifts to monitor potential direct-contamination trends. Color coding is generally straightforward to understand and provides a universal language accessible to individuals of all literacy and linguistic backgrounds.

However, approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women experience difficulty or inability to differentiate certain colors due to color blindness. While color blindness manifests in various forms, the most common type is partial color blindness, where individuals struggle to distinguish between a few specific colors. Among these, the two most prevalent forms—deuteranopia (reduced sensitivity to red light) and protanopia (reduced sensitivity to green light)—are the most frequent. This doesn't mean that color-coded systems fail color-blind employees, but it does emphasize the importance of selecting colors carefully to avoid common confusion pairings.

Tips for Creating a Color-Blind Friendly Workplace

There are several strategies to accommodate color-blind employees. These solutions may not universally apply to every individual with limited color vision, so it's crucial to involve any team members with color vision deficiencies in discussions:

1. Avoid Commonly Confused Pairings

   Certain colors are more prone to confusion than others. Warm and cool colors tend to pair better than cool colors alone. Exceptions exist, particularly for the most common form of color blindness—green/red. Other frequently confused color pairings include:

   • Blue/Purple
   • Green/Blue
   • Blue/Gray
   • Green/Gray
   • Green/Black

   Shades that typically work well together include blue and red, yellow and purple, and orange and reddish-purple. Refer to the chart below, adapted from Martin Krzywinski Science Art, for an easy 7-color palette that individuals with protanopia and deuteranopia can easily distinguish.

2. Use Varied Shades

   A neon green and a deep red, or a pastel blue and a royal purple, will never be mistaken for one another. If the shades between even the most frequently confused colors are distinct enough, they can still be effective choices.

   To visualize this, take a picture of the different tool color options with your smartphone and use a filter to convert the image to black and white. Ideally, you'll have physical samples of the tools or use images from the supplier's website. Once converted, ensure you can differentiate between the shades of the colors you've selected.

3. Implement Tool Stations

   Tool stations provide workers with an easy method to locate the necessary tools for a specific task. For instance, if yellow tools are used for products containing wheat, set up a shadow board exclusively for these tools. Color-blind employees can be confident they're using the correct tool as long as other employees consistently maintain the tool station.

4. Utilize Black for Floors and Drains

   You don't necessarily need to stick to black and white for maximum contrast—many color combinations work well for color-blind employees while offering additional benefits, such as using red for raw meat, white for milk, or yellow for wheat. However, certain cleaning tools, like drain brushes, should ideally be black or clearly labeled. Remco offers a range of drain cleaning tools that are labeled for easy identification, but many customers opt for black tools for heavy-duty cleaning. When harsh chemicals are involved and the tool cleans non-food-contact surfaces like the floor, it's best to use a tool that is clearly marked and easily recognizable.

   Color coding remains a valuable tool in food processing environments. By taking a few precautions, such as setting up tool stations and carefully selecting colors, zoning with color coding can enhance food safety by minimizing cross-contact incidents, contamination, and direct contamination, thereby preventing foodborne illnesses and potential outbreaks. To learn more about the benefits of color coding and determine if it's suitable for your facility, read the Guidance on the Use of Color Coding to Improve Food Safety and Quality.