You've probably seen the standard fire door sign - a blue circle on a white background - thousands of times. But how often do you think about fire doors and the damage that they can prevent in the event of a blaze? More importantly, how many times have you ignored that little blue circle and left a set of fire doors open?

If you don't understand why fire doors are legally required to be kept shut, consider these two stories:

• In August 2012, Sophie Rosser returned to her flat in Canary Wharf to find that the building was on fire. She rushed inside to find her fiancé Oscar Silva; in the end, he managed to survive by escaping to a nearby balcony, but Rosser was not so lucky, dying in hospital after collapsing and getting badly burned by the fire. An inquest found that Rosser's death could have been prevented were it not for a fire door that had been left open in the building.
  
  
• More recently - earlier this month, in fact - a fire broke out in Summerlands, a care home in Portsmouth. The blaze began in the laundry room (it was seemingly caused by one of the tumble dryers), but a pair of properly-secured fire doors prevented it from spreading to the rest of the building. The home was evacuated upon discovery of the fire, and two residents were treated for smoke inhalation, but thanks to the fire doors, there were no fatalities.

These two starkly different reports really illustrate the importance of fire doors, and if we want to see fewer stories like Sophie Rosser's, it is crucial that we all start taking these safety measures more seriously. A large part of the problem is information-based; all too often, people either don't notice the fire door signs at all, or they ignore them because nobody has explained why the doors should be kept shut.

We think it's time for a change. We can all take responsibility for keeping fire doors shut, and now that you've read about Summerlands and Sophie Rosser, you can explain the importance of fire doors to other people: they keep fire and smoke contained, preventing blazes from spreading and causing even more damage. Ensure that all of your fire doors are fitted with the proper fire door signs (or, if this is not your responsibility, talk to the person in charge) and if you ever see anybody propping open a fire door, tell them exactly why this is such a bad idea!

Last month, we shared the amusing story of Hayward, a town in California that has installed a series of humorous traffic signs ("It's a speed limit, not a suggestion!") in an effort to improve road safety. Well, a village in Eastern France has gone one step further - motorists passing through Bretenières (approximate population: 40) are now being greeted by this slightly morbid notice:

Translation: "There are still children to run over. You can accelerate."

Unsurprisingly, this spectacularly sarcastic approach to road safety has caused its share of controversy. Many angry letters have been written, and this tiny village's outrageous road signs have made the news all over France. So what does Hervé Bruyère, Mayor of Bretenières, have to say in defence of his sardonic signage? Here's an excerpt from The Connexion's report about this story:

Bruyère, who was elected mayor in last year's local elections, said that the signs were a last resort after every other attempt to slow down speeding motorists on a perfectly straight section of road through the centre of the village had failed..."Motorists sometimes drive at between 70kph and 80kph. The village is quiet, but I have seen several near misses," he added.

In short, these signs are an attempt to tackle that same problem with which the city of Hayward was struggling: the standard road signs that we see every day have become 'white noise', and since people no longer take any notice of signs like these...

...local authorities are forced to resort to signs like these...

...to catch the public's eye. As gruesome as that French sign is, we can definitely understand the thinking behind it - you're more likely to pay attention to something funny that you've never seen before than a boring old safety symbol that you've seen thousands of times before!

That being said, standard road signs are still important. We made this point in the Hayward blog post, too, but it bears repeating: funny road signs are a fantastic idea, but they should be used in addition to the normal traffic signs, not instead of them. If you work for your local council and Mayor Bruyère has inspired you to try the sarcastic approach in your town, remember that humour alone is not enough!

Falls from heights remains the most common cause of workplace fatalities in the UK, with 39 deaths in 2013-14, which was 29% of total fatalities as reported by the HSE. It is a figure that remains stubbornly high, while there has been progress in reducing numbers, reported by employees, from other causes in the last five years. While the level of reported non-fatal injuries from falls was 2895 in 2013-14, well below the peak of 4684 of 2008-09, still there is much more training and safety education required to continue this downward trend.

Furthermore, fall injuries led to 567,000 working days (as reported by employees) lost in 2013-14, and there were 5952 recorded fall from height injuries from the same grouping.

The major industry for fatalities continues to be construction, including electricians and roofers, with other high risk sectors being agriculture, water supply, manufacturing, transport and storage, administration and support (the last mentioned including landscape gardeners, window cleaners and even social care workers).

In 2013-14 there were 73 convictions for breaches of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, slightly down on the peak figure of 81 in 2012-13, and the average fine was in excess of £8000.00.

Major causes of falls from height include falling through fragile surfaces, being hit by falling objects, operating in dangerous areas, coming into contact with machinery as a result of a fall, use of inadequate work equipment, or misuse of such equipment.

To emphasise the dangers of working at heights, Label Source supply a range of health and safety signs to warn of the inherent risks and dangers, as well as mandatory notices for the use of personal protective equipment, and maintenance labels and tags for use on work equipment.

We at Label Source would like to applaud the American city of Hayward, California, who have taken a rather novel approach to road safety. One can only assume that Hayward's residents weren't paying enough attention to the usual traffic signs, because one main road is now dotted with a slightly more unusual breed of signage:

"35 - It's a speed limit, not a suggestion!"

Downhill - Use: Eyes, Brakes, Brain"

Frank Holland, speaking on behalf of the city, said: "The idea is for people to do a double take and then realize, 'Oh, they want me to be careful on the hill. Standard traffic signs often become white noise...we wanted to use humour to get people to take a second look and think."

It's a great idea, and Hayward's attention-grabbing ploy seems to have worked - not only are residents paying more attention to the signs, the signs have actually made international news!

And motorists aren't the only targets of these humorous signs. They've got one for pedestrians, too:

The British public (sometimes justifiably) have very little patience for health and safety measures, and we think it would be fantastic if local councils took a leaf from Hayward's book and started using a bit of humour - it is a great way to capture people's attention and ensure that hazards don't go ignored.

It's important, though, to note that Hayward's rib-tickling signs aren't enough on their own; one local resident admitted that the signs were "cool", but added that "it's hard to see the speed limit". Hayward haven't replaced their standard road safety signs with the ones in these photos; they've just supplemented them with something fun and light-hearted. Both are important!

Photos: Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group

Contaminated land poses a number of safety issues ranging from impact on human and animal health, infection of soil, plants and fauna, and pollution of surface water or groundwater.

These sites of former industrial activity such as steelworks, refineries, mines or factories leaving residues of heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium; or mines and landfill sites producing methane gas; or special sites blighted with asbestos, radioactive substances or explosives.

These site pose dangers to workers, contractors and the general public from exposure to carcinogen and mutagenic elements through breathing or skin contact; from the ingestion of plants or vegetation ; damage to aquatic stock through soil contamination leaching into water courses, as well as other risks from corrosive, explosive or flammable waste; or asphyxiation from gases.

These zones need to be clearly marked to deter entry, and to warn of the hazards and dangers from entry into designated contaminated land sites.