With the summer holidays around the corner, students can breathe a sigh of relief, and teachers can jet away for a much needed break. However, for some it’s a great time to take stock, plan for the new academic year ahead and think about changes that can be made to the school premises.

School holidays are an ideal time to carry out a school safety sign audit. The building, grounds and car parks will be easier to access during this time and provides the ideal opportunity to audit your school signage.

It’s a perfect time to make sure your signs are present, in good condition and conform to the latest legislation. Take the time to walk around your premises, include the playground, games areas or playing field and car & bike parks.  It may take a couple of trips round if you have a large or complicated building layout. Note all your existing fire and safety signs. Do you have all the necessary signs covered by legislation? While it isn’t yet a requirement to change all your existing safety signs to the new ISO 7010versions, the advice is not to mix signage from different legislative standards. Best practice recommends, if changes or additions are needed, updating to the most recent standard.

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School entrance signSchool Identity

In many counties throughout the UK, schools are changing. Many are moving from first and middle schools to ‘through’ primaries or becoming Academies. Thought will have to be given to how the new school will present itself, signage is the ideal way to communicate school identity messages. The start of a new term can be an anxious time for new pupils, clear way-finding signage can help to alleviate worries about getting lost in the new and strange school.

Stocksigns has been working with schools for many years building up an understanding of the unique challenges faced by teachers and local authorities. We have created some education sign resources to help schools get the best from their signage.

Information and way finding

Lost property school sign

Simple and effective wayfinding systems will help new students orientate themselves quickly. We offer a large range of school information signs to clearly mark areas around your school premises such as Classrooms, Library’s, entrances and offices.

Help teach organisation skills by clearly marking storage areas. Our primary school signs are available as standard in dark blue, green, light blue or red. If you’d like your own school colours, logo or any specialist design just let us know and we can create this for you as part of our custom service.

CCTV Sign

Security

School holidays can also be a great opportunity to see if there is a need too increase security to your grounds or buildings. An empty school yard can be a tempting hangout so increasing security signage can be enough of a deterrent to keep school property vandalism free .

Signage Condition

What condition are your safety signs in? Safety signs over time can become dirty or damaged with environmental factors also playing a role in their condition. Signs in areas of high traffic can become dirty quickly. Make sure all signs are clean,clear and can be easily read.Where signs  are illegible and beyond cleaning they should be replaced them where necessary.

The winter weather in the UK is often variable and unpredictable, so it pays to be prepared in order to ensure the safety of your site or premises.Cold weather and icy conditions can make conditions on construction sites, car parks and open spaces hazardous.

The Department for Transport reported that in Great Britain in 2014, snow or ice was present on the road when 29 people lost their lives, 251 suffered serious injuries and 2,274 had minor injuries.

These figures highlight the importance of having the correct signage to help prevent the risks of accident and injury to employees and visitors. Below are some useful winter sign suggestions:

 

Traffic & Car Park signage

Winter car parks

Winter driving conditions can be hazardous for motorists. Ensure road closures and driving instructions are clear with these road signs.

All of our traffic signs conform to The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 No. 3113 design layouts. If you require CE certified signs for use on a public highway please call email our sales team for a quote on 01737 774077.

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Hazard SignageThin ice & rocks

Keep your building and work environment safe by warning of hazards caused by the weather. Thin ice and slippery surfaces need to be clearly marked to help prevent slips and falls.

Use Danger signs for a high level of risk, Warning signs for a medium level of risk and Caution signs for a low level of risk.

 

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Slippery Floor Signs 

Cold and wet weather can leave floors slippery and dangerous. Slip and fall accidents are one of the most common accidents in any workplace so ensure you clearly mark the dangerous Frame collageareas with the following free standing frames:

  • Economy A boards – A polypropylene fluted lightweight display board. Double sided and easy to assemble. Can be folded flat and easy to clean. Size: 290mm x 590mm
  • Shield Durable Free-Standing signs – highly visible with a large printed display area. Highly stable – ideal for retails and consumer environments. Panel size: 450mm x 700mm
  • Light Weight Double-sided Free-Standing Signs – Aluminium rod frame. Folds flat for easy storage. Fits KM (300mm x 400mm) signs rigid plastic sign (not suitable for external use

You can discuss a variety of frame options with a member of our sales team. Call us on 01737 774072 or email us by clicking the button below:

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Not what you’re looking for? Did you know that we can customise any sign you like. We can include your logo or warn of a specific danger. Check out our custom made signs page for more information.

As winter is coming…stock up on your ice and cold weather warning signs to get you through. Don’t forget that we can provide all the health and safety signage you will need in order to remain compliant, check out our shop here.

We often get asked by our customers ‘How do I know how many signs my building needs?’Although there is no hard and fast answer to this, customers must make sure that their building signage is compliant with current the current health and safety legislation.

The number of signs required by a business is dependent on certain factors such as the size of the building, the use of the building and the number of employees and visitors If your building is a commercial premise then you are legally required to undertake a fire risk assessment to allow you to identify any hazards or risks in the building. You can undertake the assessment yourself (if you have expertise or the time to investigate the legal requirements) or you can appoint a fire safety officer. This assessment will allow you to identify fire hazards, identify people who are at risk, devise an emergency plan and evaluate and reduce risks. The fire risk assessment will help you in determining how many signs you require for your building.

 

How big is the building?

This may be an obvious factor, the larger the building the more signs may be required. How many entrance and exit points does your building have? This will determine how many fire exit signs will be required for example there needs to be a fire exit sign above every doorway where there is more than one exit point. There also needs to be a fire door sign for every fire door in the building.

How complicated is the internal design of the building? This will determine if you require wayfinding signage to help employees and visitors navigate their way around your building.

How is the building used?

The use of your building will also have an impact on the type of signage you require. Certain businesses will have more hazards associated with them for example in a factory environment. There is likely to be heavy machinery which will require hazard signs to highlight risks such as noise and fast moving parts. You will also require mandatory signs to advise what kind of personal protective equipment (PPE) is to be worn such as eye protection.

Is your building open to the general public? If so increased safety signage may be required to highlight risk and dangers to visitors. Increased way-finding signage may be required to safely and efficiently guide visitor traffic through the building.

Who will use the building?

You must also consider the needs of employees and visitors who enter your building. As part of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) there must now be reasonable adjustments to buildings to assist disabled persons. This will range from braille and tactile signage to disabled refuge points. Age is another consideration. Schools will need age appropriate and easy to understand signage, we supply primary and secondary school signs in a range of colours.  Likewise consideration must be given to older generations and people suffering from dementia. We offering a range of 3D pictorial signs which use bold colours and strong images to produce highly recognisable door signs.

 

So how can you make sure you have the appropriate number of signs?

There are a number of methods you can use to ensure your building has the correct signage. Make sure you include signage in all aspects of your company risk assessments. Wherever a risk has been identified, ask yourself if a sign could help reduce risk, or significantly raise awareness of that risk.

Using building plans and drawings of your premises can provide a systematic method of determining the signage you require; similarly an audit of all the possible routes of access and working spaces can identify problem areas. Our previous post on the top 10 most common safety signs will give you a starting point.

For complete peace of mind we are able to offer a site survey service. We can give expert advice on your buildings specific signage needs to ensure that you are compliant with the latest legislation.

For more information please contact us on 01737 774077 or send us an email.