Proper use of safety marks is a must for all businesses, commercial organizations and public access buildings. There is legislation to ensure the proper use of these marks. Enforcement of this legislation is the responsibility of the Office of Occupational Safety and Health and Industrial Safety (HSE).
The contents of the safety and safety signs are divided into the following categories.
1. The ban.
Mostly red and white safety sign, which means that certain behavior or activities are prohibited. “No Smoking” and “No Access” are common examples.
2. Danger.
The warning triangle, yellow with a black frame, means all potential hazards. Signs can be general and simply indicate “Danger” or be more specific, for example “Caution slippery surface” or “High voltage danger”. The symbol inside the triangle changes depending on the danger. An exclamation mark indicates a general hazard, while a lightning strike indicates an electrical hazard.
3. Required.
A blue and white mark indicates that a specific action must be taken. Today the most common occurrence is that you must wear or use certain types of protective equipment. Hard hats, safety shoes, high visibility clothing and eye protection are important in almost all areas of industry and construction.
4. Fire equipment.
A red and white sign is used to denote all fire equipment, such as fire extinguishers, alarm call points and fire hoses. The signs of the fire extinguisher are further encoded to indicate the type and its proper use. For example, CO2 (black) means safe for use on electric fires, but should not be used in confined spaces.
5. Safe condition.
Green and white sign that indicates safe conditions. They are primarily used to inform people about evacuation routes and evacuation procedures. The usual style says, for example, “Exit Fire” or “Exit” along with the symbol of a running person and the direction arrow. Another common use is “Assemblage Point” and “Start for Opening”.
All of these marks are usually available in a selection of materials. Self-adhesive vinyl, hard plastic, dibond and aluminum are the most common materials. Self-adhesive vinyl is intended for indoor use and should only be used on smooth, flat surfaces. Hard plastic can be used outside, but mainly for internal use. They can be fixed using an appropriate double-sided tape or can be pre-drilled to fix the screws. Dibond and aluminum are more suitable for external use and have suitable fire performance for signage in high-risk areas, such as chemical or gas storage tanks. For buildings without emergency lighting, the use of bright icons is important, especially for signs for fire brigade and fire alarms. It is also available in all of the above materials, but is only suitable for internal use, most often in self-adhesive vinyl and hard plastic.
The size of the required mark is determined by the viewing distance of the mark. For example, as a rough guide, signs visible at a distance of up to 10 meters should be 300 mm x 100 mm, up to 20 meters, 600 mm x 200 mm and up to 40 m, 1200 mm x 400 mm.
There are many British standards governing the design of signs, but with special reference to the signs "Fire exit" and "Fire equipment" should use BS5499 or 92/58 / EEC.
Customer marks should also be aware of their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), where it may be appropriate to provide signatures in the “Tactile” or “Braille” formats.
In short, marks are an integral part of every business, and when determining what is necessary in terms of content, size and material, recommendations should be taken.
