This year the European Commission have been getting into the festive spirit and have been counting down to Christmas with their unique take on the traditional advent calendar.  In the countdown to Christmas the European commission is publishing a fact a day on how the EU works. Facts include details on mobile roaming data charges, online Christmas shopping, myth busting facts and health and safety advice surrounding the Christmas period.

Even though this is an innovative and fun way of raising awareness of what the European commission is all about and the rules and regulations that they have in place. A C of E Vicar accused the European Union of taking “Christ out of our Christmas”.  The Express went as far as to say that it was “arguably the most dull countdown to festivities ever made”.

The calendar reminds its readers that when purchasing toys from the EU, consumers should look for a CE Label on the product showing that the product complies with European safety, health, environmental requirements and serves as an indicator that the presents that you are giving to your loved ones this Christmas are safe and fit for purpose. It also provides information about the EU Food labelling rules, which provide consumers with clearer, more comprehensive information about the food that they purchase. However, it has beenclassed as “disgusting” by an MEP because “Brussels officials had hijacked Christmas to promote the EU”.

Here at Label Source, we believe that there is nothing wrong with using Christmas as an opportunity to educate people about how to stay safe over the festive period, in fact, we have been guilty of it ourselves when we posted the blog post entitled “Stay Safe This Christmas”.  Posting a fact a day is a great way of ensuring that safety remains at the forefront of the readers minds, whilst also educating them of regulations that they may not be aware off and debunking “euronmyths” such like, the EU has banned mince pies and that gender equality regulations do not require store to sell “Mother Christmas” Outfits.

The fact of the matter is, when you are celebrating accidents can, and do occur and it is important that people are reminded of the potential risks that can arise over the festive period. Health and safety is not about taking the fun out of celebrating, it’s about helping you to keep yourself and loved ones safe whilst you celebrate.  

Click here to read through the European Commission’s 2015 Advent Calendar. 

We at Label Source would like to wish all our customers a Safe and Happy Christmas and we will see you all in the New Year.

A local business in Neath, has been fined £20,000 after they failed to comply with a notice issues by the health and safety executive calling for the company to make improvements to the accident Repair Centre. 

The company automobile body shop had been using a spray booth that had not been checked by a competent person to spray isocyanate paints. Isocyanate paints are the main cause of occupational asthma in the United Kingdom.  Every year 50 workers who have been exposed to Isocyanate paint have to leave the industry. 

If you are working with Isocyanate paint you should always wear air fed breathing apparatus, never spray the paint outside of the dedicated room or booth, and undergo regular health checks to identify any early symptoms of asthma. Manager’s need to ensure that the booth is running at negative pressure to ensure that air is drawn into the booth so the mist from the paint does not leak out into your garage or workshop.

If you are working with or around hazardous chemicals on a daily basis, it is important that you are wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and ensure that you have the correct chemical safety signs in place to remind and encourage best practises whilst handling these hazardous chemical’s among your employees.  Here, at Label Source we are proud to supply a range of specialist hazardous chemicals and substances safety signs. We make it one of our main priorities to stay up to date with the latest changes  in the rules and regulations surrounding the handling of harmful chemicals and substances, this means that we can offer the latest chemical hazard warning signs, COSHH signs and tapes, Hazardous Good labels and Gas Cylinder safety Labels. 

All of our hazardous chemicals and substances safety signs are produced to meet the BS 5378 standards and the safety signs and signals regulations 1996. 

We are proud to be able to offer a truly comprehensive range of safety signs and tapes to our customers, however we realise that finding the right label can be a little overwhelming. If you are not entirely sure what safety sign your require then please contact us  either by emailing Label source on info@labelsource.co.uk or  you can telephone a member of our expert  customer service team on 0800 3761 693

At the inaugural Construction Health Summit held in London on January 21^st 2016 construction giants will discuss possible ways to improve the current industry standards, after shocking statistics were released showing that workers are 100 times more likely to die from occupational diseases than accidents in the work place.

In the construction industry, 40% of deaths are cancer related, with 70% of these cases caused by exposure to the deadly material, asbestos.

The institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) are currently running “No Time to Lose” Campaign, raising awareness about occupational diseases. Currently over 60 construction companies worldwide, are supporting the campaign and have pledged to improve their practises to reduce their workers exposure to hazardous materials.

Other topics discussed at the summit will include; what can be done to limit other causes of ill health caused by working in hazardous environments, such as breathing in dust and diesel fumes, and ill health caused by working around loud noises.

Research suggests that most of work related illnesses are preventable, and that employees need to ensure that employees are taking the correct safety precautions and wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipment to protect themselves and prevent contracting a potentially life threatening illnesses.

As an employer, is it your responsibility to ensure that you employees are informed about the potential hazards that they are working around. This can be achieved by clearly labelling any areas that could contain asbestos or by using mandatory safety signs. Here at label source we are proud of stocking and supplying a fully comprehensive range of Mandatory Signs and asbestos warning signs, labels and tapes to a large number of UK Businesses.

Click here to view our full range of Mandatory and Asbestos safety signs. 

In February 2016, we will see an increase in the amount a company is fined if they’re found not complying with health and safety laws.

Over the years, there has been concern that the amount large corporations are being fined for failing to meet health and safety regulations, were too low.  As it stands currently, if someone is fatally injured at work due to health and safety negligence, the fines that they will face should be no less than £100,000, and £500,000 for corporate manslaughter.  This may seem like a lot of money, but to organisations turning over in excess of £100m a year, the fine will pretty much so un-noticed.

In November 2015, new guidelines for the sentencing of health and safety cases were produced by the Sentencing Council. These guidelines,  which will apply to all sentencing in health and safety and corporate manslaughter cases, it will become mandatory for every court to follow these guidelines while carrying out health and safety sentences brought in front of a judge in or after February 2016, regardless of when the offence has taken place.

Under the new guidelines, large companies, companies with a turnover exceeding £50 million, that commit health and safety offences, will be fined up to £10 million. For Medium sized companies, companies with a turnover of £2m - £10m, they could expect a fine up to £4 million, and micro-companies, companies with a turnover of less than £2million, could be fined up to £450,000. For cases of corporate manslaughter the fines that companies could be facing are even higher, with fines in excess of £20 million for large organisations.

It is important to highlight here that people don’t need to be injured for the company to be penalised. If it has come to light that an organisation has repeatedly failed to meet health and safety regulations – even if there was not an accident caused by the negligence the company will still occur a penalty. This penalty will be determined by the court based on 1) the seriousness of the risk created and 2) The likelihood of an incident arising.

You can avoid these hefty fines by doing the following:

• Make sure that your organisation has an effective risk assessment and risk management system is place, including identifying hazards, and putting in place appropriate precautions to warn visitors and employees of the hazard or potential hazard.
   
• Ensure that all your health and safety polices are clearly communicated and enforced.
   
• Make sure you are providing regular support and training to your employees to ensure that they continually follow the correct health and safety regulations.  
   
• Make sure that your approach to health and safety is consistent – especially if you are the owner or manager of a company that owns a lot of different sites.

Here at label source, we help companies improve their health and safety standards in their work place on a daily basis by providing a large range of health and safety signs designed specifically to create awareness of potential hazards in the work place.

Our safety signs department is dedicated to signs raising awareness of potential hazards including hazard warning signs, mandatory safety signs, First aid and safe conditions signs and fire equipment safety signs. 

At Label source we are able to supply a wide range of custom tags to meet your specific requirements. So whether you need to create a tag for simply marking a valve or require a more complex custom printed plastic tag for product marking, you can be confident that Label source will be able to produce long lasting, high quality tags, meeting your exact specifications. Available in different sizes, colours, and materials, ordering your custom tags from Label Source really is a no brainer. 

If you are a regular customer of ours you will know that we offer the highest quality of labels and signs to our customers and our range of custom tags are no exception. Our metal tags, come in different shapes, sizes and colours. All of our metal tags are fully customisable with your own design or test – making them perfectly suited for the task at hand.  We also offer a range of custom plastic tags, made from polypropylene these industrial tags are tear resistant and malleable making them perfect for a range of industrial applications. Also fully customisable, these tags can be printed with your details, barcodes, or part of your product identification system. 

To customise your tags, simply upload your design to us when ordering the items. We will then send you a design proof for your approval before printing. 

Here at label source, we pride ourselves in stocking a truly comprehensive range of custom tags, however, in the unlikely event that you cannot find the exact tag that you are looking for please contact us by telephoning 0800 3761 693 or emailing info@labelsource.co.uk where a member of our customer service team will be happy to assist you.