Hazards At Work

Slips and trips and falls can be the most dangerous risk when working. In fact, they are the most common cause of injury at work. Slips, trips and falls cause over one third of injuries at work, and account for over half of injuries in workplaces with public access. This makes hazard signage a vital part of any workplace.

Minimising The Hazard

As with most risks at work, the priority should be to minimise or completely remove them. However there are often circumstances where a potentially dangerous situation can’t be avoided, and signage needs to be used to warn workers of the risks. HSE have listed the steps that should be taken in order to initially analyse and attempt to minimise the risk:

  • Prevent floors from getting wet or contaminated in the first place.
  • Have procedures in place for both routine and responsive cleaning.
  • If a spillage does happen, clean it up quickly.
  • If floors are left wet after cleaning, stop anyone walking on them until they are dry and use the right cleaning methods and products.
  • Look out for trip hazards, such as uneven floors or trailing cables, and encourage good housekeeping by your workers.
  • Make sure workers wear footwear that is suitable for the environment they are working in.
  • Make sure your flooring is suitable, or floors likely to get wet are of a type that does not become unduly slippery.

If the above steps can’t be taken for one reason or another, steps need to be taken to advise workers of hazardous surfaces, electricity or fire risks, dangerous chemicals or various other potential dangers.

If you want to learn even more about safety signage, including what they mean and how to identify them. You can take a look at our other blog post Safety Signs – What is the Importance of them?

Danger sign about a hazardous area

Pictograms

Hazard pictograms, for example, alert us to the presence of a hazardous chemical.  The pictograms help us to know that the chemicals we are using might cause harm to people or the environment. One or more pictograms may appear on the labelling of a single chemical. This ensures that users know the dangers of using it, and what the outcomes can be if not used properly.

Slippery Floor Brushed Brass Sign

Making The Best Use Of Your Hazard Signage

Hazard signage can be a great way to enforce safety and make sure care is taken when completing certain tasks. Accidents can very easily be avoided onsite with proper use of hazard signage. The signs should be placed in a clear, obvious area that makes them easily visible to anyone onsite.

Click here to check out our vast range of Hazard Warning Signs!

On Wednesday 26th September, a team from Redhill-based signage company Stocksigns joined forces with staff and partners at Gatwick Airport, to take part in a sponsored walk showcasing the pedestrian routes that surround the airport.

Over 40 people donned their trainers and set off to discover lakes, walking trails, tunnels and underpasses all whilst helping raise valuable funds for the Gatwick TravelCare charity. The charity assists over 2,000 passengers with travel-related problems each year. With a knowledgeable team, many of whom are volunteers, TravelCare are on hand to ensure that passenger journeys through the airport are smooth, enjoyable and any problems are resolved as quickly as possible.

David Harbison, Stocksigns Senior Project Development Manager worked with Sara Marchant, Accessibility Manager at Gatwick Airport  to arrange the event.
“Having worked closely with Gatwick over the past 6 years, Stocksigns were delighted to be able to support Sara raise the profile of the many walking trails that surround the airport. I am sure many of the staff and passengers may be surprised to know that they could access such beautiful green space within a 5 minute walk of the terminal buildings” said David.

“Although the route may be a hidden gem for some, many are already in the ‘know’ as our team discovered when they met cyclists, runners and picnickers while completing the walk. One innovative taxi driver was waiting for his passenger to arrive while enjoying a spot of fishing by the lake – which we all agreed was a fantastic way to pass the time!”

Stocksigns Managing Director, Danny Adamson added “As a company we appreciate that regular walking can help both mental and physical health, and as such we introduced the Friday walking club.  So when the opportunity came to work on this joint initiative with one of our key customers it was the perfect fit for us.”

“The walk raised over £250 and we would like to thank everyone that took part on the day”.

Many businesses operate CCTV, some wholly inside their own premises and some outside.
However, if you operate CCTV, in the eyes of the law you are collecting personal data and that means you need to comply with the Data Protection Act, or from May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). This is because images of people captured by CCTV are personal data.

Your Obligations

As part of your obligations under the legislation, you must tell people that you are taking their personal data. The most effective way of doing this is by using prominently placed signs at the entrance to the area covered by CCTV and reinforcing this with further signs inside the area.

Clear and prominent signs are particularly important where the cameras themselves are very discreet, or in locations where people might not expect to be under surveillance. As a general rule, signs should be more prominent and frequent where it would otherwise be less obvious to people that they are on CCTV.

Clear and Visible Signage is Essential

Signs should be clearly visible and readable, contains details of the organisation operating the system, the purpose for using CCTV and who to contact about the scheme. You may not have to include all of those details where it is obvious to those being monitored, such as CCTV wholly within a workplace. If CCTV is installed within a shop, for example, it will be obvious that the shop is responsible, so you won’t need to include that on the signs.

Signs should be an appropriate size depending on context, so you’d expect signs to be bigger if they need to be viewed by car drivers or from a distance.

Apart from good signing, all staff should know what to do or who to contact if a member of the public makes an enquiry about the CCTV system. Systems in public spaces should have signs giving the name and contact details of the company, organisation or authority responsible.  Business owners should take care with this, because often cameras sited on premises might still capture the images of people walking by.

There is plenty of help available from the Information Commissioners Office on how to run a CCTV system lawfully, but it is often the issue of correct signing where businesses fall short.

The best way to ensure you are compliant is to talk to our team of dedicated account managers who can offer advice on the right signs for you.

Contact them today on 01737 774077.

Whether you manage a pay & display car park, a customer, employee or visitor car park there are a number of areas you have to consider. Using our experience of working with customers we’ve pulled together some handy tips so you get it right first timeOffer_Teaser_Car_Park

1) Directions
You need to consider wayfinding in your car park under all elements including rain and darkness. Often directions on the ground can easily be missed under these circumstances as drivers have so much to concentrate on. Therefore it is important to include directional and informative signage at the height for drivers to easily see where they need to be going.

2) Disabled / parent and child bays
It is likely that you will have disabled parking and potentially parent and child parking, it is important to ensure these are clearly marked. It will help to reduce the number of drivers utilising these spaces.

3) Speed Limits

Car parks are dangerous places with pedestrians and drivers all in the same place, meaning they need to be managed appropriately. It is important to encourage drivers to drive at a safe speed, our speed limit signs are a cheaper alternative to road signs, as your car park signage doesn’t need to comply with highway specifications.

4) Advertising
Signs do not have to be just about information and penalties, they are also a great opportunity to advertise your brand. Simply including your logo on wayfinding signage is essentially free advertising. Stocksigns can adapt any of our standard signs to suit your requirements.

5) Security
In 2014 over 69,000 cars were stolen in the UK, and is a constant concern for many drivers. Even if you are not liable for the loss or damage of vehicles in your car park, you want users of your car park to feel that their vehicle is secure. Whether you have CCTV or not, CCTV and security signage can go a long way to put car park users at ease and deter criminals.

6) Car Park Information
It is a legal requirement to display your opening times and charges, our team of experts can advise on these bespoke signs.While not legally required it’s important to ensure that your car park’s entrance is easily identifiable so you don’t miss out on revenue.

Hopefully our 6 points will help you to audit or plan your car park, if you do have any questions about your signage requirements call our team of
experts on 01737 774 072.

To help you keep your car park safe we’re offering 20% off the list price of all standard traffic signs until 22nd July 2016. to take advantage of this special offer quote BLOG625

Lauren Sutton,
Sales Assistant Manager

Terms & conditions: Use code BLOG625 at the online checkout or over the phone. Discounts only available on list price standard items within out traffic and car parks range until 22nd July 2016. not valid in conjunction with any other offer and only valid once.