Article 2 of this enthralling look at safety signs brings us to the Warning or Caution sign.

Used to warn people of impending doom, or potential injury, warning signs are required by law to make us aware of dangers… The big sharp spinning blade with its huge teeth rotating perilously close to our fingers is unfortunately not enough of a deterrent to stop us losing our pinkies… We must be WARNED that our fingers may become detached from our bodies should we place them in the machine.

A six-foot high fence, barbed wire and a deafening humming sound coming from an electric generator doesn’t deter people from hopping the fence to retrieve a £3.00 plastic Sainsbury’s ball, we must have a sign of a man being attacked by a six-foot lightening bolt to tell us that we’re risking life and limb.

Seems a little silly that a small sign tells us what we already knew in the first place, but rules are rules people…

So what should these signs look like?

The HSE says:

• They should be a triangular shape
• They should be a black symbol or pictogram on a yellow background
• At least 50% of the sign should be yellow

That’s all very well…. but what do they look like? Again we’ve seconded some images from the interwebnet and for your viewing pleasure, here they are:

Caution! dangerous exclamation mark on the loose:

The dreaded skull and cross-bones, I guess death is probably a hazard:

The killer lightening bolt we spoke about from the hand of Zeus himself – electricity, shocking!:

Well…. that’s it for warning signs, next up…. the prohibition sign..

Mandatory safety signs describe something that MUST happen, for example on a building/construction site you may be required to wear goggles, or in a kitchen, you may be required to wash your hands.

Typically, these signs are often telling someone something that should be obvious out of simple common sense, however…. the law dictates, and we shall obey! I would always hope that someone in a kitchen washes their hands….. We shan’t go there on that one though!

So…. what are the rules? Well the HSE say -

• They MUST be round
• They MUST be a white symbol or pictogram on a blue background
• At least 50% of the symbol or pictogram MUST be blue

So… for your eyes only (and anyone else who is reading this!)… here are a few we made (borrowed from the internet) earlier!

The good old fashioned exclamation mark:

Silly glasses MUST be worn? Ahh the eye protection sign:

Hard hats MUST be worn:

That concludes today’s explanation of mandatory safety signs… warning signs and prohibition signs explanations to follow…. watch this space people!

The question on a lot of people’s minds when it comes to putting safety signs in their offices or in their business is “how many safety signs are enough?”

All too often people resort to “too many is better than not enough”… whilst we agree that something is better than nothing when you’re trying to get the message across that someone needs to be careful of something or that they are required to do something, we feel you shouldn’t bury them under a mountain of information… By putting up too many signs you’re effectively watering down the key message.

Take this as a case in point, if you wanted to show off the importance of a particular tree, would you bury it in a forest?

A post from the HSE in December 2007 highlights this point perfectly – Myth: Every possible risk needs a safety sign