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”.

As the UK grin and bear the icy cold weather, the warm sunny days seem a lifetime away, but it will be here before we know it, and the Country fairs, music and food festivals will be in full swing once again. Many people will already be organising which festivals they want to attend, and if you are organising an event you will most likely be well under way into the planning.

To help with the smooth running of any event you will have in-depth plans set up for all areas, and an important factor of these plans will be signage.

Navigating through any sort of event can be stressful and confusing, but with clear signage you can easily guide both the public and staff to key areas and facilities around your site. Not only will this keep everyone stress free but it will help control risks and keep visitors safe.

Refreshments, First Aid, Parking, Toilets and Fire Assembly Point are some of the main areas you will probably want signage for. These could be directional signs to lead the way, signs to mark the locations or informational signs.

                           

FirstCallSigns, part of the StockSigns Group, have a wide selection of signs in stock to cater for your festival, but if you cannot find exactly what you need, we can create bespoke signs with your branding, custom text, imagery and colours.

Signs are supplied on a 4mm or 10mm Correx for easy fixing and removal to minimise time and effort when setting up your festival.

To browse our temporary festival signs visit https://www.firstcallsigns.co.uk/temporary-signage-for-festival-and-summer-events-season or call 0800 652 6270 to chat to one of our experts

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.

Our customers frequently ask us what information they need to give when  looking into their signage needs. To help we have put together an infographic showing all of the considerations to take into account when placing your order.

If you require any assistance or would like some advice please call a member of our experiences sales team on 01737 772072 or send us an email.

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.