While people tend to place greater emphasis on health and safety risks in areas such as construction and factory work, it's important to remember that there are health and safety risks in any workplace, regardless of the location or nature of the work.

An office can seem like a rather inoffensive and risk-free work location for the most part, but as I have already noted, no work location can claim to be completely safe. This is why it's important to have the correct signs on display in your office, to direct your staff in the case of an emergency, and to comply with health and safety legislation.

Here are the 3 most important signs you should have on display at all times:

Health and Safety Law Notice: 

This sign outlines the law on health and safety for you and your staff, it's also a legal obligation to display this notice in the workplace.

Fire Action Safety Sign:

The Fire Action sign is part of our mandatory safe sign range, and is intended to inform both staff and visitors of the correct action to take in the event of discovering a fire.

Fire Exit Symbol:

Another vitally important part of fire safety is ensuring that all fire exits are marked correctly. This Fire Exit sign is part of our Safe Conditions safety sign range.

To view our full range of safety signs, click here. 

It is of vital importance that every electrical appliance and piece of equipment is properly tested, in order to ensure the safety of those who are using it. While some safety defects can easily be identified visually, there are others which only become apparent when the items are thoroughly examined and tested.

The Electricity at Work Regulations legislation, states that any item with the potential to cause injury should be maintained, and kept in a safe condition. While the law does not state how frequently these items should be checked in order to guarentee safety, it stands to reason that regular use should go hand in hand with regular checks. 

A record or label can be extremely useful for the monitoring and maintenance of electrical items, which is why we stock a wide range of PAT Test Stickers here as Label Source. These can be used by professional PAT testers to help them complete their tasks more efficiently, and are compliant with all relevant legislation, including that which we have previously mentioned. 

Our PAT test range includes equipment labels, plug stickers, cable wraps and record cards; all intended to give a clear and easy-to-read indication of when the item was tested, and what the outcome was. The labels cover a wide array of purposes, from periodic inspection, to earth continuity/leackege checks and insulation resistance testing. These items are essential to both the tester and the user, as they keep a clear visual record of items which are unsfe and should not be used. 

If you would like to view our full range of PAT test monitoring items, you can click on the link highlighted above to purchase high-quality safety labels that are fit for your intended purpose. For more advice and information about our labels, or if you can't find what you're looking for, call us on 0800 3761 693 (UK) or 0044 1443 842769 (International). Alternativley you can email your questions to sales@labelsource.co.uk, and we will aim to respond as quickly as possible.

Here at Label Source, we pride ourselves on delivering functinonal and efficent labelling solutions for the workplace. Our Asset Tags and Seral Numbering Lables are perfect for use with portable electrical items, and can be used to provide warranty details, guarentee information and proof of ownership. 

Our numbered labels come in a range of different designs and materials, which include:

• Assetmark - These come in self-adhesive vinyl and are used for more general purposes 
• Assetmark Plus - These labels are made from polyester and are designed for higher operating tempratures (perfect for laptops that sometimes overheat)
• Assetmark Foil - These aluminium foil lables are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use
• Assetmark Destructible - Ideal for anti-theft puropses, these labels fracture on attempted removal 
• Assetmark Tamper Evident - Similar to the destructable labels but more advanced, these leave behind a security pattern when removed.

As well as offering universal, durable asset lables, we also offer the option of customisation. Our design team can create a label that is tailored to your needs, while also sporting your company name and/or logo. If our variety of sizes does not include what you are looking for, we can also offer a range of bespoke size options to suit your requirements.

Email design@labelsource.co.uk for more information, or call 0800 3761694 (from the UK) / 0442920 865212 (Outside of UK)

We've heared of some pretty creative ways to teach fire safety, but this 'Fire Safety Theme Park' in Tianjin, China has to be the most bizarre and inventive of them all!

Named 119 after the Chinese emergency number, the park features a maze that is filled with orange smoke in order to emulate the conditions of a real fire. Visitors are instructed to attempt to vacate the maze in 30 seconds or under, while covering their mouths and noses as they would have to do to prevent carbon monoxide innhilation. Another feature encourages people to have a go at aiming a fire hose, demonstrating the physical strength required to become a firefighter.

Intended to be as informative as possible, the park also teaches its visitors about fire safety procedures, as well as the history of the fire service. This comes in the wake of the Tanjin warehouse chemical explosions, which brought the importance of fire safety into the public consciousness. 

Although it is great to see that something negative has translated into a positive, productive action, it shouldn't take incidents like those of the Tanjin explosion to prompt people to act and take fire safety seriously! Although the 2015 statistics have not been released yet, in 2013-14 there were 22,000 recorded fires in non-dwelling buildings throughout the UK, most of which were workplaces and retail units. There were also 322 fire-related deaths in Great Britain during that time, some of which could have been prevented by fire safety awareness.

Part of ensuring the safety of civilians and staff is displaying clear fire safety signs, which give warnings and instructions regarding the correct safety procedures to follow in the event of a fire. Our equipment can help you deliver the message of fire safety, and is far simpler than building your own theme park!

A mass food poisoning outbreak was caused at a convention over 200 people who attended the convention reported to have been suffering with food poisoning and 24 people were hospitalised. 

An investigation into the cause of the outbreak revealed that the people who were poisoned had the same strain of salmonella that was found on a kitchen stick blender that had not been cleaned correctly and was poorly sanitised. Although cooking food at high temperatures does kill the bacteria, on this occasion the salmonella was not killed because the cooking temperature was not high enough, instead the bacteria was “incubated”. 

A further investigation into the kitchen where this outbreak took place, found not only salmonella on the kitchen stick blender and a large food mixer, but also E-coli, and Bacillus Cereus (B. cereus) were found on a separate mixer, pastry brushes and whisks. 

These harmful bacteria’s were all present at this establishment due to a breakdown on cleanliness, a lack of sanitizing the equipment, and staff not washing their hands correctly or often enough. 

To prevent another harmful outbreak the general manager of the establishment has advised that the mixer has been removed and whole eggs are no longer on the menu, which means there are no egg shells, which potentially carry pathogens, will ever come into the kitchen. 

If you are working in an environment where you are handling food you have a responsibility to the public to ensure that the food that you are serving them is safe and free from foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and E. Coli. 

Salmonella is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. People can get salmonellosis by eating food contaminated with salmonella if an infected food handler had not washed their hands with soap before handling food products.  

Salmonella can also be passed from meat products to vegetables if you are preparing vegetables with the same equipment that was used to prepare the infected meat. 

There are many strains of E. Coli, thankfully most of them are harmless to humans, however, if you are handling raw fruit and vegetables, it is important to skin / wash them before use. Again, if you are preparing meat, such as beer, be sure not to use the same utensils or chopping board for cooked, uncooked meat and vegetables.  

It is important that the employees in your kitchens are washing their hands regularly, before they start work, before food preparation, and after handling raw products. 

Here at Label Source we know that kitchens are full of hazards. We have a comprehensive range of mandatory kitchen safety signs will help prevent the contamination of food prepared in your kitchen by helping to identify potential hazards, and encourage best practises from your staff. 

All of our Kitchen Safety signs are made to meet the ISO EN 1710 standards and comply with the General food hygiene regulations 2010. 

Click here to View our comprehensive range of Kitchen Safety Signs. 

In the unlikely event that you cannot find the safety signs that meet your specific requirements then please contact us on 0800 3761 693 or email info@labelsource.co.uk and a member of  our customer service team will be happy to assist you.