Workplace Health and Safety Signs Stop the Most Common Workplace Accidents
Injuries at work can happen for a multitude of reasons, but there are some commonalities in workplace accidents in the West. Workplace health and safety signs are put in place to combat the most probable causes of workplace injury; despite this, businesses often still follow improper practice, leading to injuries occurring often.
Having the correct variations of labels and tapes is an important first step in ensuring your workplace is following HSE standards. Otherwise, you or your workers could fall foul to one of these common, sometimes career-threatening, risks. Find out how to identify and control these risks below:
Working at Height
Working at height accounts for 20% of fatalities in the workplace. When working at height, there is always a risk, but this can be reduced by using proper safety protocols, labelling and due care. While the impact to employee health is paramount to a business’s concerns, falls from height can put significant strain on finances and manpower; falls from height account for 230 cases of over-3-day sick leave per year which equates to a lot of money wasted.
Ladders are the largest culprit, accounting for 40% of accidents. Ladders should be regularly inspected by an appropriate ladder inspection record label, but this will not eradicate all possibilities of height-related accidents. Risk factors such as the flooring, positioning ladders near exits and carrying heavy loads contribute, also.
Signs to notify the need for a safety harness, fall arrest equipment or to signpost sudden drops need to be displayed when necessary.
Ideally, limiting the frequency and requirements for working at height should take priority. Unfortunately, this isn’t a luxury afforded to all workplaces, but making small steps such as cleaning high areas with a foam jet cleaner or moving stock to ground level can make a big difference.
To supplement proper training and re-training, your employees can stay brushed-up on ladder and height safety via well-placed work at height guides. These health and safety signs and symbols simply cannot be absent in a modern workplace.
Electrical Risks
Even in workplaces where electrical hazards aren’t obvious, injuries can still occur. A voltage as small as 50V can cause significant consequences to a worker, especially those with pre-existing conditions.
Preventing electrical injuries is easy with correct labelling. Voltage labels should display the correct measurement on all electrical equipment, instructions for use and risk labels. If workers are notified of these dangers and trained, the potentially fatal consequences of this workplace injury can be prevented.
Forklift and Transit Accidents
In 2017, it was estimated that 25% of workplace transport injuries are a direct result of forklift truck accidents. Usually, accidents occur from improper walkways, poor storage of goods at height, overworked drivers and improper labelling.
Many transit-related accidents can be avoided by correctly labelling how to stack goods with a forklift and identifying clear walkways, as well as being vigilant of transit and forklift speed.
In order to properly signpost areas of the warehouse check out our range of shipping labels, forklift hazard signs and sound horn labels.
Slips, Trips and Spills
Accidental slips and trips in the workplace seem inevitable, but the majority of these cases are not down to human error, but human oversight. On average, they cause 40% of all major injuries in the workplace, the majority of which are avoidable.
Fall prevention signs should be displayed in all places of employment, even ones that aren’t immediately at risk of fall injuries. Non-signposted wet and polished floors, poor lighting, uneven steps, loose carpeting and trailing wires all contribute to this constant t cause of workplace accidents. Our comprehensive stock of signs and labels relating to slips, trips and falls covers all the bases of this ever-growing workplace concern.
All workplaces have a duty of care for their employees, so don’t skimp out on high-quality labels and signs. Label Source has a 25-year pedigree in the industry, so browse our extensive range and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest health & safety news.
