A Guide to Workplace Safety Signage: Pointing You in the Right Direction

If you’re a small company, you might feel that some of the rules in place are for bigger organisations and don’t apply to you.

Why are safety signs used in the workplace?

We don’t often think about workplace safety signage, yet it forms a usual everyday backdrop to many working lives. But did you know such signs are sometimes mandatory, must be displayed in certain locations and are even colour-coded? They play an essential role and are sometimes a legal obligation for employers to display within the working environment, at offices, warehouses, factories or building sites.

What signage is mandatory for the workplace?

Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ve only got a handful of employees, so it’s irrelevant– many of the rules will still apply to you. Depending on the industry you work in, you will need to research the type of signage you need in the workplace. Safety signs in a workplace are essential. These signs can include:

• UK Health and Safety Legislation Poster
• Fire notices, fire exits and emergency escape signs
• First Aid signs
• Obstacle notices (e.g. trip hazards)

Why are safety signs used in the workplace?

The Government states that “mandatory signs must be used by employers and duty holders when they have a duty of care to protect the public and employees on their premises or the site they are working on.” These signs relate to the use of equipment and machinery, and they instruct and inform employees regarding specific areas and actions. Use of these signs helps employers to adhere to the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996.

Types of Workplace Safety Signs

Such signs typically relate to eye protection, stating that visibility jackets must be worn in an area or that ear or head protection must be worn. Signs can be directional, serve as warnings, offer instruction, and tell an employee about potential hazards. In Britain, hundreds of safety signs must be displayed within the workplace: indoor, outdoor, on-site and covering approaches to dangerous areas. And there are a handful that anyone with staff ignores at their peril.

What are the four types of safety signs?

In a nutshell, compulsory signs in the UK cover the following workplace hazard signs:

• Fire safety signs
• Emergency exit signs
• Road traffic regulations within the workplace
• Prohibition signs.

It’s best for any company, regardless of size, to familiarise themselves with the types of workplace safety signs. It’s not enough to create handwritten signage for workers. UK rules and policies also dictate the colour and layout of such signs.

Within the previously mentioned categories, there is a colour-coded system that denotes the severity or ranking of the message. Other types of signs in the workplace include colour-coded signals. So, if you’re considering ordering or creating your workplace signs, note that each sign must meet the following colour-coded instructions:

RED signals a serious prohibition sign. It also indicates dangerous behaviour, such as stopping, shutting down, or evading.

YELLOW or AMBER signs are for warnings. They are signs to be careful, take precautions and or examine carefully.

BLUE is a mandatory sign for specific behaviour or action and indicates wearing protective equipment.

GREEN signage shows an emergency escape, first-aid station, or sign. It also highlights doors, exits, escape routes, plus essential equipment and facilities.

Typically, prohibition signs are used to convey “Do Not” commands. For instance, to show that smoking is not allowed in a certain area. In the workplace, prohibition signs are used to reinforce instructions prohibiting potentially dangerous activities. They are shown on a bright red background or as a red circle with a cross through it with text in black or white.

Workplace warning signs tell of a potential hazard or danger ahead. For example, if a flammable liquid store is nearby, smoking or opening lights are prohibited. Such signs are shown in a thick black band shaped like a triangle. They can also indicate a slippery or uneven floor, and signs can be placed nearby or outdoors using pavement signs.

Mandatory signs are shown in blue with white text, for example, messages such as “Fire Door, Keep Shut” or “Protective Gear Should be Worn.” Finally, emergency safety signs in a workplace are green, displaying a green box with white text. Typically, they give messages relating to information on emergency exits, first aid, or rescue facilities, and they are used to indicate escape routes, such as “Emergency Fire Door” - emergency exits and first aid equipment. In turn, each of these important messages can then be further divided into four subcategories:

• Prohibition
• Warning
• Mandatory
• Emergency signs

Not all signage warns of danger – yet it may help prevent it. For example, floor stickers within large complex factories or worksites clearly show someone where to go, avoiding potentially wandering into hazardous areas. No matter what type of workforce or work your employees are engaged in, it’s worth checking out which workplace safety signs and symbols your company must comply with in the UK. They can be made of paper, laminated, hung on walls, or be huge aluminium signs that clearly show safety messages.

The signs don't always have to be huge or made of sturdy, lasting materials. Even strategically placed paper stickers in an office environment or communal kitchen can do the trick. Floor stickers in dangerous areas are increasingly popular and are designed to meet health and safety regulations – for example, measuring a social distance not to be breached.

Large portable banners could also be used within an indoor or outdoor setting, either offering directions or warning to employees. If even one workplace warning sign helps prevent an accident or a serious incident from happening, it’ll have been well worth it - and the signs have done their job. Hopefully, this should have answered any questions you may have about the safety signs in the workplace. And it means that you can get on with your job in a safe and secure environment.