Vandalism is a shamefully common sight in modern Britain - whether it's graffiti, defacement, or general destruction, you can scarcely turn a corner these days without spotting some sort of pointless destruction.

But as unsightly as smashed-up bus shelters and spray-painted walls are, there's one particularly deplorable form of vandalism on which we'd like to focus: the defacement of safety signs. This appears to be something of a trend at the moment, and it's very worrying - people are rendering signs almost illegible, with no apparent consideration of the potential consequences.

This story from Inverclyde Now is a good example. Vandals have been defacing, damaging, and even stealing signs from several reservoirs in the Inverclyde area, and while such acts would be foolish and juvenile enough without the health and safety implications, the truly frightening part is just how important these signs and their messages are.

One such sign - given as an example in the IN article - reads:

"BE AWARE! Deaths have occurred at reservoirs"

The sign then goes on to list some of the dangers associated with reservoirs, such as deep water and steep, hidden embankments. Signs like these are designed to make people aware of potentially life-threatening hazards, and by removing/defacing these signs, vandals are sharply increasing the likelihood of a serious accident.

This problem isn't limited to Scottish reservoirs, either; it's happening all over the country. We recently read of some No Entry signs in Liverpool that had been removed by vandals, making the nature of the one-way street far less obvious to motorists. This is obviously a huge crash risk, and the signs will now have to be replaced using taxpayer money.

Authorities are urging vandals to consider the consequences of their actions and stop defacing important signs such as those mentioned above. If you ever see anybody vandalising or removing a safety sign, please report it to the police as a matter of urgency - you never know whose life you might save!

You may think it kind of obvious why electrical labels are so necessary, but we thought we would quickly highlight some of the facts so it really hits home.

Electrical labels are so important, as if you neglect a dangerous area and someone were to get shocked any or all of the following can occur:

• If you get shocked it causes your muscles to tighten which can make pulling away from the circuit near impossible.
• It also causes your lungs to tighten and constrict making it hard to breathe.
• As your blood vessels constrict the beat of your heart can also be disrupted.
• You will also find burns as the electricity enters and then leaves your body.

Did you also know that:

• As the human body is 70% water, electricity moves quickly through us making us good conductors.
• As electricity moves at the speed of light you have little chance of pulling away quickly enough to avoid getting hurt, so it goes without saying that prevention is the cure.

The importance of electrical labels cannot be overlooked and if you own, run, or manage a premises which poses a potential electrical threat, you really cannot be too overcautious with your signage.

You may not have a clear idea in your head of what exactly you want from barcode labels, but what we can give you is 6 things that will not faze their usage, and thus convince you of their quality and competence under certain conditions.

So, let’s begin:

1. Water – Depending on where you’re planning to stick these labels, this feature could definitely come in handy.

2. Rubbing – Now, we all may enjoy a rub from time to time, but excessive rubbing can leave stickers damaged and unreadable – not ours though.

3. Abrasion – Much like rubbing, abrasion can cause your labels to crack, peel, or fade, which is why we manufacturer ours to cope with such pressures.

4. Chemicals – Some of the very corrosives our labels warn of could – ironically – do harm to the labels themselves, which is why ours are resistant to such terrors!

5. Temperatures up to +90˚C – Although 90˚C is a pretty extreme heat, our stickers will stay stuck in such warmth.

6. Temperatures above -30˚C – Minus 30˚C is pretty damn cold, not for our labels though, they’ll stay put even if you can’t.

Over the past few days, we've seen a flurry of news reports about "petty" health and safety rulings and the complaints that they've been eliciting. According to these articles, the Health & Safety Executive's 'myth-busting' panel has received hundreds of complaints this summer from disgruntled members of the public who have run afoul of seemingly arbitrary health and safety precautions. Here are some examples, as reported by various news sources:

• According to The Independent, a Crufts show in Keswick has banned all events involving Frisbees over fears that dogs might be injured whilst trying to catch them.
  
  
• The Guardian reports that donkey rides have been banned on a beach in an undisclosed location to prevent accidental injuries to sunbathers.
  
  
• The Metro account of this story notes that some schools in London have told their pupils to wear long-sleeved shirts instead of applying suncream.
  
  
• Finally, there's the incident that no reporter has been able to resist: a Bedford café allegedly refused to add strawberry sauce to a customer's ice cream, citing "health and safety reasons" as their excuse.

Now, we at Label Source have always harboured our reservations about stories like these. They make health and safety seem like a joke, using ludicrous examples such as those listed above to paint the whole H&S industry as nanny-state foolishness that only gets in the way of common sense. If people are constantly reading stories about how daft this country's H&S laws are, how long will it be before they start dismissing important things like mandatory signs and safety labels as yet more 'elf 'n' safety' silliness?

It would be nice to occasionally see the other side of health and safety reported in the big British newspapers. For example, a Scottish company was recently fined £100,000 after an employee was crushed to death on their premises; proper health and safety protocol might have prevented this man's death, and yet his story will not receive anywhere near as much exposure as Strawberry Sauce-gate already has.

However, we cannot simply blame the newspapers. They wouldn't report the silly H&S stories if they didn't happen, and one could argue that the so-called "jobsworths" who were responsible for incidents like the Crufts Frisbee ban are doing just as much to give health and safety a bad name.

The following statement was issued by Judith Hackitt, chair of the HSE, in response to the recent stories:

"Real health and safety is about protecting people in the workplace from life- and health-threatening risks - not about refusing to apply suntan lotion, or put sauce on an ice cream."

We agree with Ms Hackitt. It's time to stop worrying about petty matters like donkey rides, and start showing the journalists just how much difference H&S protocol can make when properly observed.

Earlier this week, The Daily Express reported that West Midlands Police have paid out a staggering £589,000 in health and safety compensation over the past year.

This money was awarded to officers for such incidents as:

• Slipping on a wet floor
• Getting bitten by dogs
• Falling off a chair
• Tripping over in the dark

The Express article contains a short interview with Ray Egan, who used to be part of the force. Mr Egan is quick to blame Britain's "claim culture", adding:

"It's like a disease and people are jumping on the bandwagon. It's embarrassing."

But while there can be no doubt that £589,000 is a ludicrous sum of money, we at Label Source are a little worried by Mr Egan's eagerness to blame the claimants. The "claim culture" to which he alludes is very real, but the backlash against this culture - neatly exemplified by that Express article - is equally real, and it could cause big problems if it goes unchecked.

We'll use the 'wet floor' claim as an example. If a floor is wet enough to cause slips, it is the EMPLOYER'S responsibility to place wet floor signs around the area in question. If the West Midlands force failed to fulfil this basic safety measure, then the officer who slipped is entitled to compensation - and why shouldn't he claim it?

It's also worth noting that the reported figure (£589k) does include legal costs. The actual amount given to officers was £328,100; this is hardly any more encouraging, but it's important not to exaggerate when it comes to stories like this.

We see a lot of 'health and safety gone mad' news stories every week, but while silly things do occasionally happen (see this story - also from the Express, as it happens - about a suspected burglar in a tree), we shouldn't be turning the British public against H&S as a practice. Likewise, we ought not to blame the victims for the mistakes of their employers; companies MUST adhere to health and safety guidelines or suffer the same consequence as the West Midlands Police.