Workplace Site Safety Signage Guidance

Business owners, workplaces and sites must all provide a safe and secure environment for everyone on and around premises under their control including staff, visitors, contractors and where appropriate the general public, in this article we will take a virtual risk assessment tour, look at potential risks and determine from the findings what types of signage we can mount and display which provides everyone with guidance and security whilst attending your sites. It is required by law that all employers carry out a risk assessment of workplaces under their control and where 5 or more people are employed the risk assessment must be recorded and documented.

Site Traffic Signage

Approaching your sites in vehicles it is important drivers and pedestrians fully understand where they are to attend, you will have staff that needs use the car parks, delivery drivers need to attend goods in areas, visitors need to be directed where they

Electrical equipment is used on virtually every site. Everyone is familiar with it, but unlike most other hazards, which can be seen, felt or heard, there is no advance warning of danger from electricity, and electricity can kill. Electrical systems and equipment must be properly selected, installed, used and maintained. Hazards arise through faulty installations, lack of maintenance and abuse of equipment.

Demolition, dismantling and structural alteration are high-risk activities whose safe execution is complex and technical and where expertise is vital. They require careful planning and execution by contractors who are competent in the full range of demolition techniques. During demolition and dismantling, workers are injured in falls from edges and through openings and fragile surfaces. Workers and passers-by can be injured by the premature and uncontrolled collapse of structures or parts of structures and by flying debris.

Suitable precautions must be taken to prevent falls. General access scaffolds provide a means of working at height while preventing falls and should be provided whenever practicable. Scaffolds should be designed, erected, altered and dismantled only by competent people and the work should always be carried out under the direction of a competent supervisor. Scaffolders should always adopt methods of work to prevent falls during the erection of scaffolding. This can be achieved by using an advanced guard rail system.

Many construction workers are killed or seriously injured during lifting operations because of accidents such as cranes overturning; material falling from hoists; and slinging failures. Many more suffer long-term injury because they regularly lift or carry items that are heavy or awkward to handle, eg: block layers lifting dense concrete blocks; pavers laying slabs; and labourers lifting and carrying bagged products, such as cement and aggregates. To avoid the risk of injury it is essential that all material handling is properly planned.

This guidance is for employers and duty holders, and others who have responsibility for the control of work sites and premises, or operating equipment requiring verbal and/or non verbal communications. This third edition provides practical advice on how to comply with the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996.

This is the third edition of Health and safety in construction. It has been updated and expanded in the light of new legislation, in particular the Work at Height Regulations 2005. It also features new information on recent advances and examples of good practice in the construction industry.