Machines make our lives a lot easier, but they can also be extremely hazardous if used improperly. We've seen lots of gruesome reports in the news lately that reinforce this fact - here are some of the worst:

Warning! These stories contain injury and mutilation - do not read if you are faint of heart!

• A 60-year-old woman from Cheshire lost part of her left index finger because the machine she was cleaning had not been switched off. Her finger was caught in the machine's rotating blades; her employer, Tattenhall Dairy Products Ltd, was fined £7,500 for failing to prevent the incident.


• Roger Small, a 49-year-old man from Staffordshire, was repairing a computer-controlled machine last year when the machine started working and Small's arm became trapped in the inner workings. His arm was broken, and Key Precisions Ltd - the company Mr Small worked for at the time - were handed an £8,000 fine (plus costs).


• A worker in Glasgow needed a metal plate in his wrist after an accident involving a conveyer belt. The man's arm was caught between the belt and a roller; the HSE took his employer to court over the incident, stating that safety guards should have been put in place to prevent workers accessing the machine's 'nip point'.


• Poorly-guarded machinery was also responsible for injuring an unnamed 30-year-old from Tyne and Wear. The man's hand was left severely injured after he attempted to swap two feed belts and got his finger trapped in the machine, which was running at the time of the incident.

If you want to keep unpleasant incidents like these from occurring in your workplace, there are a number of safety measures you must take. Firstly, you should ensure that all workers are properly trained in the safe use of hazardous machinery; secondly, you need to make sure that all machinery is properly labelled with the appropriate hazard safety signs.

One of the main reasons for labelling one's property with asset tags is to minimise the likelihood of loss and theft.  Many asset tags are branded with that company's name and logo; here's one that we made for a lawn care company:

Not only does the above label feature the company's name and imagery, it also lists the unique model and warranty numbers of the item in question. This means that the labelled item is instantly identifiable - if it were to go missing, the company would be able to establish exactly which of their assets had disappeared, and if found, they would be able to confirm their ownership of the item thanks to the branded, numbered asset tag.

But what if somebdoy were to remove the tag? This is a common problem, especially when it comes to valuable electronic equipment; thieves will peel off asset labels to avoid detection and to sell the item on without provoking suspicion. With the asset tag gone, it will be much harder to identify the missing/stolen equipment as your own, and it may well be impossible to prove your ownership of it.

That is where destructible and tamper evident labels come in. These high-security tagging products are designed to prevent removal and tampering, thereby ensuring that your assets remain uniquely identifiable no matter what happens.

• Tamper evident asset tags consist of two parts. The two parts of the label cannot be removed intact, and any attempt to restore the label after attempted removal will be easily spotted, as the two parts cannot be re-attached. When a tamper evident label is removed, it leaves behind a permanent printed pattern to show that the tag has been taken off.
  
  
• Destructible asset labels are slightly simpler. They are designed to fragment (tear) upon attempted removal, making it practically impossible to remove the tags cleanly.

If you are serious about protecting your equipment, these high-security tagging options could well be the best possible solution. Contact Label Source for further details, or click here to see our full range of asset tags and labels.

As springtime approaches, the longer daylight hours and milder weather are likely to encourage an increase in recreational sports and activities on and around inland waterways. Many will dust down their clothing and equipment, which has been stored for the winter, and with much enthusiasm and vigour will embark on activities such as angling, climbing, walking or running, cycling, rowing, canoeing or kayaking, swimming, sailing, water skiing, wind surfing and sub-aqua.

However, there are risks and hazards associated with such pursuits, and these can be escalated if combined with an intake of alcohol, which can lower inhibitions, and temporarily inflate belief in ability or prowess.  Over a quarter of deaths from drowning occur in rivers, lakes, reservoirs, old quarry workings or canals, as reported in the latest WAid statistics for 2011.

Besides these fatalities, there are risks of a wide range of injuries from following the pursuits outlined above. These can include sprains or strains, fractures, crush injuries, lacerations and cuts from slides, slips, trips, tumbles and falls on damp banks, uneven surfaces on towpaths, or from rocky outcrops. Hyperthermia can result from immersion in deep, low temperature water, or from strong currents. Other injuries can be from poisoning or chemical burns from polluted water, collisions with underwater obstacles, entanglement in underwater vegetation, difficulties caused by breakdown of or ill maintained equipment, inadequate training or supervision, or from ill-health.

Matters can be made worst when some of these waterways are in remote locations, or locations with limited accessibility, and where signals for mobile phone are poor or non-existent, increasing the dangers by delaying the response time from emergency services.

To assist in providing a safe water experience, Label Source supply a range of health and safety signs to ISO 20712-1: 2008 Water signs and beach safety, as well as our general ranges of hazard warning signs and general prohibition signs, which warn the general public and workforce of water related dangers.

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!