It is sometimes difficult to quantify the cost of poor quality. Customer complaints, returned goods, lower productivity through re-working or new manufacture, and waste materials are just some of the elements to be considered.

Thus, QC inspection forms a vital function in detecting and preventing defects, in both products and processes, to provide corrective actions and for preventing defective goods being shipped to customers.

Not only does this fortify bottom line financial performance, but has a critical impact on; reduction of waste, scrap or pollution;  lower maintenance costs; increase productivity and operator efficiency; and bolster staff motivation and morale.

Label Source supply a range of QC and QA labelling for marking products, and in identifying their quality status. These include our QC inspection ranges, Inspection labels and our Production status label ranges.

With both workplace deaths and health and safety prosecutions on the rise here in the UK, it appears that Britain's businesses need all the help they can get when it comes to protecting their workers and staying on the right side of the regulations. With that in mind, we should all welcome the announcement that global law firm Clyde & Co have launched a new app - named ClydeCovered - that aims to make workplace safety incidents a little easier to manage.

The ClydeCovered app is free to download, and in the firm's own words, it is "designed to take the guesswork out of whether a workplace incident is notifiable or not...and what steps an individual or business should take following an incident". More specifically, the app allows you to:

• Find out what jurisdiction you are in and who the local health and safety regulator is (e.g. the HSE in Scotland, England and Wales, and the HSENI in Northern Ireland)
  
  
• Identify whether or not an incident needs to be reported to the relevant regulator
  
  
• Create an incident report that can be saved and sent via email
  
  
• Take immediate action (e.g. first aid) in the event of a serious incident
  
  
•  Contact Clyde & Co's emergency response team

At time of writing, the app only covers incidents in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, but Clyde & Co have said that they will be rolling it out "globally" over the next few months. This hopefully means that UK businesses will soon be able to download the app and benefit from its capabilities in the event of a workplace incident.

Of course, while the ClydeCovered app sounds like the perfect tool to have at your disposal in a health and safety emergency, one thing it can't help you to do is stop incidents from occurring in the first place. As American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin once said, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", and it's better for everyone if you work hard to prevent incidents rather than relying on an app to see you through when something happens.

Preventing workplace incidents:

• Carry out a full risk assessment of your working environment
   
• Take any necessary measures to minimise risk (e.g. using safety labels and signs to warn of hazards)
   
• Remain vigilant and carry out regular re-assessments to ensure that no new risks have arisen

For more health and safety news/insight, be sure to follow @LabelSourceUK on Twitter!

It's vitally important that you inspect your work equipment before use to ensure that your health and safety isn't at risk. Not all work equipment requires an inspection; however, an inspection is necessary for any equipment where significant risk to your health and safety may occur. You should inspect your work equipment if your risk assessment pinpoints any serious risk to the operator and others. Work equipment that requires inspection should not be used unless the operator has been made aware that an inspection has taken place. 

Here at Label Source we have an excellent range of Record Tags that informs the operator when an inspection was made, who by and if the equipment had passed or failed the inspection. These tags are manufactured in semi-rigid polyropylene plastic, and are waterproof, weatherproof, durable and tear resistant. Our record tags are supplied in packs of 10 and can be attached to work equipment using a cable tie, string or wire. These record tags provide safe operational guidelines in the work place and will ensure that the health and safety of your operators and others isn't at risk.

Our range of record labels include:  

Inspection Record Tag

Equipment Inspection Tag

Work Inspection Record Tag

To see our full range of Record Tags, click here.

A few days ago, the Financial Times reported that the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) prosecuted more than three times as many companies for health and safety offences in the year ending 31 March 2016 as in the preceding year. During that period, the HSE took a total of 46 company directors and managers to court over safety breaches (most involving the injury or death of an employee), whereas the total for the year before was just 15.

So does this mean that the UK's health and safety standards are slipping? Possibly - we did learn a few months ago that UK workplace deaths are on the rise. However, this latest stat is probably indicative of a more positive trend: companies who violate health and safety rules are increasingly likely to be prosecuted and brought to justice. The Financial Times article contains the following quote from Chris Morrison, the UK Head of Safety, Health & Environment at international law firm Clyde & Co:

"The data confirms what we have been seeing in practice, with the HSE displaying an incrased zeal to prosecure the most senior individuals. By making senior management responsible for the health and safety failings of their business and their staff, the increased enforcement is a serious boardroom issue."

And that, we feel, is a very good thing. Prosecuting and putting pressure on the people at the very top of businesses with poor safety records will force those company heads to make H&S a priority throughout the whole organisation, rather than just a concern for the people on the factory floor. Recent changes to UK law enable the HSE to issue fines exceeding £20 million in some cases, so hopefully we are now approaching a point where all company owners realise that taking a relaxed approach to workplace health and safety simply isn't worth the risk.

For more health and safety news and insight, be sure to follow Label Source on Twitter and Facebook!

 When it comes to organising your warehouse or store room, you're going to need a simple yet efficient process in place, in order to provide the best possible service for your customers. This means putting a clear, monitored system of shelf identification in place, which allows goods to be stored neatly and identified quickly. 

Here at Label Source, we provide a great selection of warehouse and shipping labels for safe storage and handling, which includes a huge variety of warehouse rack labels and shelf marking solutions. From numbers and symbols to plain, customisable labels, our range provides a solution for almost any workplace storage area, no matter how big or small your demand may be.

One of the most beneficial aspects of our range, is the fact that we are able to supply a selection of magnetic labelling systems as well as self-adhesive solutions. These offer several advantages to the user, the first of which is their adaptability. If you decide to reorganise your racking arrangement, or sell out of a certain product, a magnetic label can be removed or transferred to another area with ease, making it particularly useful for storage areas that see a regular turnover of stock. The magnetic labels are also of advantageous for keeping your storage area neatly ordered, by providing a system which allows you to remove markers without leaving a residue. This is particularly useful for those who rent their racking systems, as it prevents unsightly marks and damage to the shelves. 

Some of the most popular warehouse rack labels in our range include:

Multi Purpose Letter and Number Labels

(Available in 0-9 and A-Z, for a flexible and easy to comprehend visual identification system)

To see our full range of our warehouse rack labels, click here!