A safe working environment relies on a multitude of different factors, but perhaps the most important of all is information. As an employer, it is your responsibility to ensure that your staff are up to speed with all of the health and safety regulations that affect their work.

This, of course, means that you have to provide health and safety training for everyone who joins your workforce; however, bear in mind that a single training session on initiation day may not be enough to fulfil your obligations as company owner. People generally won't remember everything you tell them on their first day at work, and that's why you have to ensure that your employees are frequently reminded of the relevant safety information.

One way to do this is with health and safety posters. Placing these brightly-coloured notices around your workplace is a great way to keep safety at the front of everybody's mind, and the information printed on the posters may just save somebody's life one day.

Here are some of the workplace safety posters available from Label Source:

Office Safety Poster

This poster features several pieces of general guidance that are applicable to most office environments.

Manual Handling Poster

If your workers are frequently required to lift heavy loads, this poster will help them to ensure that they stay safe while doing so.

 Fire Safety Poster

You never know when a fire might break out. This poster will inform your employees of what to do in the case of such an emergency.

Workplace First Aid Guide

Most workplace safety posters aim to prevent accidents. This one gives advice on what to do if prevention fails and a life-or-death situation arises.

These are just a few of the safety posters available from Label Source's website - click here to see our full range.

Electrical Safety Month is nearly over, but that doesn't mean we should stop thinking about electrical hazards and the harm they can cause. Electrical safety should be a continuing concern for everybody (especially employers, who must always take responsibility for the health and safety of their workers).

With that in mind, we'd like to close Electrical Safety Month with these helpful tips for preventing electrical accidents:

• Only carry out electrical work if you are competent enough to do so. Not all electrical jobs have to be carried out by qualified electricians - for example, most people are capable of changing a light bulb or replacing the fuse in a plug. However, you should NEVER undertake ANY electrical work unless you are completely sure of what to do; if you don't know the correct way to safely complete the task at hand, call someone who does.
  
  
• Pay attention to warning signs and labels. If you see an electrical warning sign or safety label, be sure to heed its instructions before continuing. Those warnings are there for a reason!
  
  
• Provide warning signs and labels for others. Of course, electrical safety warnings don't magically appear on any potentially hazardous equipment - they have to be put there by a responsible person. If that person is you, be sure to use the correct signs and labels to help protect your employees and the general public from harm.
  
  
• If you see something unsafe, report it. It could be an electrical installation that isn't properly labelled, a cable that has become unfit for us, or even a co-worker carrying out electrical work in an improper manner - whatever the hazard, be sure to let somebody know. Report it to the person responsible for health and safety in your workplace, and if they don't take action, contact the Health and Safety Executive for further guidance. You should never stay quiet about a potential safety risk - inaction costs lives!
  
  
• Educate yourself and others. It's easier to prevent electrical accidents if you know exactly what can happen. For starters, we recommend visiting the HSE's Electrical Safety page and brushing up on the do's and don'ts of electrical work. Be sure to share the information with others, too - you won't be able to keep everyone safe on your own!

Manual handling (a catch-all phrase that refers to any lifting, lowering, filling, emptying, or carrying that is done by manpower alone) can be quite dangerous, particularly if the loads involved are extremely heavy. The risks involved with these task means that injuries are common when the correct health and safety measures aren't followed. Of course, it's hard to avoid these tasks altogether, so here are three top tips for staying safe whilst carrying out any manual handling task in the workplace:

Our first manual handling tip is to fill out a manual handling assessment form before you start. These forms encourage workers to properly scrutinise the potential risks asociated with a manual handling task; a properly filled-out form will minimise the chance of an accident, and if an accident does occurr, it may help to exonerate the employer from blame by proving that the correct health and safety procedures were followed.

Our second manual handling safety tip is to always label heavy loads appropriately. Using warning labels such as the one shown above will ensure that your employees are aware of dangerously heavy loads before attempting to lift them.

Our final manual handling safety tip is to use the correct safety signs. Putting safety warnings around your workplace (as well as on the loads themselves) will further improve your workforce's knowledge of manual handling safety.

To follow these tips properly you should visit our Manual Handling Safety department now and start improving safety in your workplace!

Most of us use electricity every day - it's an easy luxury to take for granted, and in doing so, we often forget just how dangerous electricity can be. As May is Electrical Safety Month, here are a few stories to remind us of exactly what can happen when electricity is misused and safety regulations are ignored:

HGV Driver Electrocuted by Overhead Power Lines
from hse.gov.uk, 12 January 2015

Nigel Fox, a 59-year-old man from Northamptonshire, was tragically killed when the lorry he was driving struck an 11,000 volt power line on a farm in Salisbury. The farm's owner, Tony Slade, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay costs of £5,609; in a press release, the Health and Safety Executive stated that "Mr Slade had made no attempt to remove or reduce the serious risk associated with the power line crossing the yard", going on to suggest that Slade should have considered "diverting the cable or providing signs or barriers to warn visitors of its existence".

Apprentice Electrician Killed by Exposed Electrical Bars
from rochdaleonline.co.uk, 22 April 2015

Nathan Brown, a 19-year-old apprentice electrician from Rochdale, was testing a set of lights when he came into contact with an unprotected set of busbars and received a lethal electric shock. The shock sent Brown falling head-first onto a roof below, but a pathologist stated that he "probably suffered a cardiac arrest before falling to the ground" - that is, he was killed by the electricity, not by the fall. Brown had been working with his father David, who in the aftermath of the accident made this statement: "As far as I am aware the busbar should have been marked up in a sleeve with the marking 'danger high voltage'. I have never come across a busbar not sleeved and marked with an appropriate sign."

Bradford Man Hospitalised After Using Unsafe Testing Equipment
from hse.gov.uk, 24 January 2014

An unnamed 22-year-old from Bradford needed skin grafts on both hands after touching an exposed conductor and receiving a 415 volt electric shock. The conductors were part of some testing equipment that the man was using to test a transformer; his employer, Wilson Power Solutions Ltd, was fined £6,500 for giving the trainee "unsafe, inappropriate and poorly maintained equipment to test an electrical transformer with no training or supervision".

So, how can you prevent accidents like these in your workplace?

• Use appropriate warning signs
• Keep electrical equipment in good condition
• Before allowing an employee to work with electricity, ensure that he/she is properly trained to do so

Do you have something to say about electrical safety? Join our #ElectricalSafetyMonth conversation on Twitter.

Accidents at work, especially if involving fatalities, continue to be reported widely in local, regional and national media. While those on a larger scale, and sometimes accompanied by a greater level of notoriety, such as the Bangladesh building collapse in April 2013, tend to have intense international coverage and scrutiny.

In a wide range of health and safety legislation and guidelines, a duty of care applies both to employers and employees for the safe operation of workplace equipment. Such equipment, machinery or plant must be maintained and fit for purpose, the working environment should be safe, suitable training should be undertaken, operating procedures should be rigorous and relevant personal protective safety equipment should be provided and used. Accidents tend to occur when one or more of these tend not to be observed.

Our range of health and safety labels can assist in identifying risks and hazards at work and prohibited activities, promote employee welfare, and to indicate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Potential hazards can be clearly identified. These can include electrical, biological, radiation, temperature (high, low or hot surfaces), chemical (such as toxic, corrosive, harmful or irritant), and mechanical (pinch points, moving blades, finger trap, or crush) risks in the workplace.

Mandatory labels emphasise the need to use the protective equipment supplied to prevent injury to eyesight, hearing, face, fingers, hands, body or feet. Also, others cover the need to read the manual or handbook for the equipment or for greasing or lubrication points on equipment.

Prohibition stickers advise of actions which may be dangerous, such as reaching over or into equipment, or from smoking or use of naked flames.

For further information on these safety labelling stickers, our comprehensive product ranges can be located in the following label categories; warning symbol labels; engineering labels; safety labels; laminated safety labels; custom safety labels; and Ansi labels.