The Importance of Safety Signage 

Safety signage has become ingrained into our society and plays a critical role in keeping workplaces safe and free from injury. This blog will outline just how vital safety signage is.

Safety signage is everywhere

You’ll see it in the workplace, in coffee shops and libraries, supermarkets and airports, anywhere where there are risks and people who could fall victim to those risks. Safety signage has become ingrained into our society and plays a critical role in keeping workplaces safe and free from injury.

Key areas

Safety signage informs the user of space to things of notability in that area. Generally, this is for any of the five following reasons:

• To draw attention to health and safety issues.
• To document safety procedures and protocol. 
• To remind people of necessary safety equipment 
• To inform people of the location of safety equipment. 
• To prohibit or mandate specific actions.

You might see a sign indicating that a doorway is a fire exit, informing you that an area is not for public access, or even just letting you know the floor is slippy.  Safety signage is standard, so you might not realise just how often you encounter them. Their presence across workplaces are critical. Subconsciously the brain takes notes of these messages, and your actions are influenced.  This is a crucial part of health and safety.  You will also often find that the most effective safety signage is that which doesn’t rely on words to portray its message.  Pictograms and universal images can help make safety signage helpful to all users and eliminate language barriers. For example, the familiar “no smoking” sign depicts a cigarette with a clear and bright red circle and slash across it, clearly indicating that the area is a zone where smoking is not allowed.  This message would be hard to misread, regardless of your linguistic understanding. 

Colour Coding 

Red Red signs will most often feature a red border with a white inset and include bold white or black writing. They indicate something that is not permitted in that area, such as smoking or warns you of a hazard, such as flooding or ice. The red colour is most often associated with danger, so it is an effective colour for signs with fundamental instructions.  For this reason, it is also often the colour of fire information signs and signage for fire extinguishers.  Yellow Unlike the bold colour red, yellow is often used for more precautionary signage, telling the viewer to act cautiously and bare in mind the possible risks of an area or item.  For example, you might find yellow signage telling you to be cautious of electrical hazards or flammable materials. Generally speaking, these signs will not inform you of a definite threat but will let you know that there could be a risk if suitable precaution and awareness are not undertaken.  Blue  Blue signs are used for information on mandatory behaviour and inform the viewer of necessary actions that are to be followed. They are less common than their red and yellow counterparts outside of an industrial setting. However, they can be essential to instruct people of necessary actions such as wearing a helmet or even warning people to keep out of a designated area.  Green Green signs are the most common health and safety sign.  Green usually represents things such as the location of first aid kits, fire exits, or even general information such as operating a door lever. Their purpose is to inform about critical areas and details that will help keep a site safe, whether just day-to-day or in an accident.  Colour coding variations are also common. Regardless of these variations, safety signs are invariably there to provide viewers with important information. Ultimately, they are there to prevent injury and let you know what to do if an injury does occur.  Safety signage comes in many forms suitable for various settings, from the commonplace road signs to foam signs you might find attached to doors.  You can even find signs designed to increase their impact using lenticular imaging to create illusions on signs that make it difficult to ignore. 

How can we help

CMT Group stocks a wide range of safety signage for several essential needs.  Whether you need hazard-warning signs, mandatory action signs, or prohibition signs, we have a diverse range of informative signage for a wide array of settings and workplaces.  We also stock other safety signage equipment such as reflective barriers and traffic cones, which can also play a crucial part in keeping an area safe.  Please take a look at our safety signage here, and why not take a lot at our other site safety precautions, too, such as first aid kits, fire extinguishers, blankets, and traffic management. Safety is of the utmost importance to us here at CMT, and that why we ensure that we stock a wide range of quality products to help you keep your site safe and keep the wheels of the industry turning.