Safety signs play a crucial role in maintaining a safe and secure environment for your employees, and visitors, in your business establishment. In the uk, there are three main types of safety signs you need to be aware of: mandatory, prohibition, and warning signs. All those who come into contact with them should be communicated a specific message by each one, which serves a unique purpose.

Mandatory Safety Signs: Do you know what they are and why they are important?

Mandatory safety signs clearly instruct your employees, customers, and visitors about what they must do in a particular area or situation to maintain their own safety and the safety of others.

These signs are typically blue in colour and feature a white symbol or text that tells them what they must do. These signs can help to prevent accidents and injuries in your business by alerting your workforce to potential hazards, and providing them with information on how to safely navigate a space or perform a task. For example, a mandatory sign may indicate that all your employees must wear hard hats in a certain area or that all visitors must sign in at a designated point before entering your premises. They also help to create a safe and organised work environment, which can improve productivity and morale for your workers.

Here are some examples of mandatory signs you may be familiar with:

Warning Signs: What are they?

Warning safety signs are another important part of your business's safety program. To alert your employees, customers, and visitors to potential hazards and dangers in the workplace, you should use warning safety signs. To properly use these signs, you need to place them in a visible location, use clear and concise language, and regularly inspect and replace them as needed.

Warning signs have two main features, they are always triangular in shape with a yellow background, that has to take up at least 50% of the total sign area, and they have a black pictogram at the forefront accompanied by black edging. For example, a warning sign may indicate that there is a risk of falling in a certain area or that a machine is in operation and that you should keep a safe distance.

In your workspace, you may need the following three common warning signs:

What Are Prohibition Signs?

Prohibition signs are vitally important within your business as they provide a clear message of what your employees, visitors and the public must not do in order to keep themselves, and others, safe in the workplace.

Much like warning and mandatory signs, prohibition signs have two key features making them clearly identifiable:

1. They are always round.
2. They consist of a bold red outline with a black pictogram at the forefront of a white background. This also has a bold red line through crossing through it.

Three common prohibition signs you will be familiar with are:

To ensure that employees and visitors are aware of potential hazards and know how to stay safe while on your work premises, it is important to use safety signs in conjunction with other safety measures such as keeping all your safety training up to date and completing thorough risk assessments.

In addition to these three main types of safety signs, there are also a number of other types of signs that you will need in specific circumstances, such as fire exit signs, first aid signs, and emergency evacuation signs, all of which are also important in maintaining safety standards and to comply with the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, for UK businesses.

How to ensure you have the correct signage.

To ensure that your safety signs are effective, it is important to follow a few basic guidelines when you are using them. First and foremost, your signs should be clearly visible and easily understood by all employees and visitors. You should also place them in an appropriate location, such as near the entrance to a hazardous area or on the equipment itself.

When using safety signs, you should make sure that they are in good condition and regularly checked and maintained. You should clean and repaint as needed and replace any signs that are damaged or faded as soon as possible.

In conclusion.

Safety signs play a crucial role in maintaining a safe and secure environment for your employees and visitors in your business establishment. The three main types of safety signs, mandatory, prohibition, and warning signs, communicate a specific message to those who come into contact with them and each serve a specific purpose. It is important you use safety signs in conjunction with other safety measures, and you follow the appropriate guidelines for visibility, location, and maintenance to ensure that they are effective, and to keep everyone safe within your business.

Contact us at www.thesafetysigncompany.co.uk for advice on any of the above or help with the correct signage for your workplace.