No team sets out to intentionally ignore safety in the workplace — it’s just not usually top of mind (especially for busy frontline employees). It helps if you can keep safety front and center and competitive with all the other things demanding their attention. Or if you can make it catching, engaging, and memorable: like with a safety quote, perhaps. 😉
If you’re on the hunt for some safety quotes, good news! We’ve collected 75 meaningful safety quotes for work you can use almost anywhere, from warehouses, packaging facilities, and manufacturing plants to gyms, grocery stores, and agricultural spaces. We’ve also rounded up seven free safety quote templates you can edit and display directly in your browser.
Want even more ways to put safety quotes on display? You’ll learn how to use Fugo to keep digital signage front and center.
Meaningful safety quotes for customers and team members
Ready to build up that safety culture?
Here are 75 health and safety quotes you can use to remind employees about safety protocols, boost awareness, and (hopefully) minimize workplace accidents.
Inspirational safety messages
These messages can give your team a much-needed dose of reality while also encouraging them to look before they leap.
- "Carefulness costs you nothing. Carelessness may cost you everything." – Unknown
- "Working safely may get old, but so do those who practice it." – Unknown
- "Safety is not expensive, it’s priceless." – Unknown
- "Safety is a choice you make." – Unknown
- "Prepare and prevent, don't repair and repent." – Unknown
- "Think safety today — tomorrow may be too late." – Unknown
- "Safety is everyone's responsibility." – Unknown
- “Your family expects you home tonight. Please work safely.” – Unknown
- “Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.” – Jeff Cooper
- “Safety first is safety always.” – Charles M. Hayes
- “Better to lose one minute in life than to lose life in a minute.” – Unknown
- “Safety is a journey, not a destination.” – Unknown
- “If you see something unsafe, say something.” – Unknown
- “You are your last line of defense in safety.” – Kina Repp
- “Tomorrow: your reward for working safely today.” – Robert Pelton
- “Safety brings first aid to the uninjured.” – F.S. Hughes
- “Luck runs out, but safety is good for life.” – Unknown
- “Safety should never be a priority: it should be a precondition.” – Paul O'Neill
- “If it feels unsafe, it probably is unsafe.” – Jerry Smith
- “Accidents hurt — safety doesn't.” – Unknown
- “Never compromise on safety. It's the only way to ensure longevity.” – Unknown
- “Any worker should feel empowered to stop work if they sense danger.” – Sean Lucas
- “Safety isn’t a gadget. It’s a state of mind.” — Eleanor Everet
Catchy safety slogans
Sick and tired of plain ol’ ‘safety first’ slogans? Here are a few safety quotes that get the (safety) point across without feeding a fed horse (or feeling quite so stale):
- “Safety doesn’t happen by accident.”
- “No safety, know pain. Know safety, no pain.”
- “Shortcuts cut life short.”
- “Safety is no accident. Stay alert!”
- “Let’s all get home safely tonight.”
- “Safety: A small investment for a rich future.”
- “Be aware, take care, and stay safe!”
- “Safety rules are your best tools.”
- “Plan ahead. Accidents don’t!”
- “Think safe. Work safe. Home safe.”
Safety quotes with acronyms
What about a catchy safety slogan you can condense into a single word?
- “Be S.A.F.E.: Stay Alert, Focused, and Engaged”
- “Be S.M.A.R.T.: Safety Means Acting Responsibly Today”
- “Remember to S.A.V.E.: Safety Awareness Values Everyone”
- “Take C.A.R.E.: Caution and Awareness Reduce Errors”
- “Stay A.L.E.R.T.: Always Look, Evaluate, React, and Think”
- “Have P.R.I.D.E.: Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence (in Safety)”
- “Be a S.T.A.R.: Stop, Think, Act, Review”
- “Give it Your B.E.S.T.: Be Extra Safe Today”
- “Let’s A.C.T.: Assess, Control, Take Action”
- “Safety is as simple as ABC: Always Be Careful."
Funny safety slogans
Who said safety quotes for work had to be boring? Here are a few tongue-in-cheek options to bring a little lightheartedness to an otherwise serious subject.
- “It’s better to be careful 100 times than to get killed once.” — Mark Twain
- “Working safely may get old, but so do those who practice it.” — Anonymous
- “A safety talk a day keeps the accidents away.” — Anonymous
- “If you think safety is expensive, try an accident.” — Stelios Haji-Ioannou
- “Your mother doesn’t work here, so pick up after yourself.” — Anonymous
- “Don't learn safety by accident.” – Jerry Smith
- “Better to arrive late in this world than early in the next.” — Anonymous
- “Chance takers are accident makers.” — Anonymous
- “Those who work the safest way, live to work another day.” — Anonymous
Safety slogans that rhyme
These safety slogans offer fun and punchy rhymes that add a little flair to your onsite safety signage.
- “Safety first to avoid the worst.”
- “Don't get hurt — stay alert.”
- “Share a little care: help avoid safety scares.”
- “Be wise and protect your eyes.”
- “Stand clear of moving gear.”
- “Work with pride, use safety as your guide!”
- “Don’t end up in bed: protect your head.”
- “Be aware, take care.”
- “Accidents are painful, but safety is gainful.”
- “Don’t be a fool, use the right tool.”
Motivational safety quotes
- “Prepare and prevent, don’t repair and repent.” — Ezra Taft Benson
- “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” — Benjamin Franklin
- “Safety brings first aid to the uninjured.” — F.S. Hughes
- “At the end of the day, the goals are simple: safety and security.” — Jodi Rell
- “Safety work is today recognized as an economic necessity. It is the study of the right way to do things.” — Robert W. Campbell
- “You don’t need to be a hero to stay safe. You just need to be smart.” — Anonymous
- “It takes leadership to improve safety.” — Jackie Stewart
- “Working safely is like breathing: if you don’t, you die.” — Jerry Smith
Specific safety awareness quotes
So what about industry-specific regulations? Or changing expectations for the people on your team? We’ve collected a few safety awareness quotes to help spread the word without sounding quite so cliche.
- “We can't fix what we don't know. Report hazards.” — Unknown
- “Safety’s an investment, not a cost.” — Unknown
- “One faulty wire can start a fire. Stay alert!” — Unknown
- “Don’t work live! Ground it before it grounds you.” — Unknown
- “Pain doesn’t always mean progress. Don’t push yourself to strain.” — Unknown
Inspirational quote templates for TV screens
Maybe you need a template for your Safety Message of the Day, or maybe you need more inspiration for your daily safety content. Either way, we’ve rounded up a mix of inspirational quote templates you can use to display these safety quotes and slogans on your company TV screens. 😎
Just looking for a poster? You can set up physical and digital posters via the Fugo x PosterMyWall integration. We’ve also provided links to each template so you can easily update colors, quotes, and images in Fugo’s digital signage design studio.
Keep in mind these templates are 100% free and customizable in your browser, so they don’t require software or credit cards to get started. And P.S., if you sign up for a 14-day free trial of Fugo, you can display finished content on your TV screens in 15 minutes or less.
💡Related: 20 Digital Signage Examples For 2023
Motivational safety quote in portrait format
With automatic fields for weather, location, and date/time, you can keep safety quotes front and center while adding extra value for your team. This can easily work in a frontline setting like warehousing, packaging, and logistics, as well as customer-facing settings like gyms or rock-climbing studios.
Get the template for this Motivational Quote Portrait.
Professional safety quote with border and attribution
Do you love minimalism as much as you love you love safety quotes? Then do we have a treat for you! This simple quote template allows you to customize the quote itself, then add attribution (plus a job title) to bring the piece together. Keep in mind you can update the colors and background image to better reflect your business and brand.
Get the template for this Business Presentation Slide.
Safety quote template and personal image
Have an original safety quote to share? Or want to show off an employee with exceptional records? You can use this template to drag and drop an image, add a quote, change the background color, and display the final product on your TV screen.
Get the template for this Quote with Photo.
Inspirational quote with background image
For a touch of extra ‘oomph,’ you can use this inspirational template to add a dynamic background or moving text. It also adds a nice touch to acronym-based slogans or funnier catchphrases that might not work well on other templates.
Get the template for this Inspirational Quote with Background Image.
Days without incident poster
So this one isn’t for safety quotes per se, but it’s still a great way to help encourage your team. You can highlight new hires, call out existing employees, and otherwise turn the spotline on your safety-minded staff. Bonus points for stirring up friendly competition and using data dashboards to engage frontline employees!
P.S., this template is available in both landscape and portrait so you can pick the formatting that’s right for you.
Corporate 2D graphic
Rather than just dropping a motivational quote, you can also encourage your employees to be proactive. For example, if they see something amiss, they can get in touch with your safety team or contact HR. You can easily adjust this 2D graphic to match your brand colors, show off a mascot, or house a QR code for employees to take action.
Get the template for this Corporate 2D graphic.
P.S., want a safety graphic with a built-in QR code? Try this template on for size:
Reminder with video background
Last but not least is this humble reminder template you can use to bring attention to new safety-related protocols. You might sneak in a quote, add a quippy phrase (or three), or even let employees know about changes to your daily safety protocol.
The pink, of course, can be easily updated to match your brand colors.
Get the template for Reminder With Video Background.
How to boost safety messaging with digital signage
Rounding up safety quotes is only half the battle. The next step is displaying them so your team can actually see them.
You’ve got the usual options — breakroom posters, framed photos, and bathroom reminders — but if you want to really stand out, digital signage takes the cake.
Simple solutions like Fugo digital signage make it easy to maintain consistent, engaging, and highly visible safety communication. It takes minutes to display quotes wherever your team may be, plus tap into many other features that keep safety top of mind.
For example, you can:
Create dynamic visuals customized to your business
Who said safety quotes had to stay static images?
With digital signage software like Fugo, it's easy to:
- Add and playback video content
- Create moving text with dynamic animations
- Display a set of moving slides and screens
- Change content types to match specific times of day (like first versus second shift)
Plus, you can do all this in 15 minutes or less, whether or not you have previous experience with digital signage.
Push content to places where your team gets work done
This includes:
- Embeddable company TV channels, which you can display on screens, embed in company intranets (Slack and Notion), or send as links to be viewed in browsers
- Wireless mirroring between a laptop screen and a TV screen (including video walls or conference room TVs)
- Sharing on multiple screens at once with digital signage players (including Fugo NUC, Fugo Flash, and the Fugo Chromebox)
And did we mention you don’t even need WiFi to get started?!
Make fast updates across all your screens and locations
Fugo helps manage all your digital signage screens and content in a single accessible admin dashboard. That way, you can quickly address specific safety concerns, make changes to multiple screens, and instantly check the status of your visuals (like whether or not they’re showing up correctly).
For all these reasons (and many more), Fugo is the easiest way to display your safety quotes for work.
But no need to take our word at face value.
Sign up today to test Fugo free for 14 days. 👋
