We often hear of companies who have been taken to court over health and safety violations. Some organisations have been fined thousands of pounds because they didn't use the proper safety signs, or because a certain piece of equipment wasn't being used properly.

Sadly, though, accidents can't always be prevented, and the unthinkable does sometimes happen even in safety-compliant workplaces. Take, for example, the sad story of Nigel Chester: the 46-year-old safety inspector was visiting a Premier Foods factory in Nottinghamshire when he stepped through a 'door to nowhere' and suffered a 13ft fall, resulting in severe head injuries that eventually proved fatal.

Unusually for this type of case, though, the company was eventually judged to be free from blame, and Chester's tragic death ruled an accident. Why? Because the door (installed a decade ago during the construction of a gantry that was eventually deemed unnecessary) was locked and marked with an appropriate warning sign. Nigel Chester had unlocked the door using a master key, and he presumably didn't notice the sign, which read "Danger. Keep this door locked. Four metre fall to the floor if opened."

While this sign was sadly not enough to save the life of Mr Chester, it was enough to convince a jury that his death had been an accident, and it seems that the company will not be penalised. We are not suggesting that this should be any consolation to Mr Chester's family, nor indeed to the factory workers who witnessed the incident, but one must wonder how much sooner an accident like this would have occurred had the sign not been in place.

If there are any unmarked hazards in your workplace, be sure to label them with the correct safety signs as a matter of urgency. It's the law, and it could well save lives.

Source: Daily Mail

If you need to identify the risks and dangers in operating workplace machinery, to comply with your duty of care, then look no further. Label Source has developed a comprehensive range of health and safety signs and labels, to clearly warn workers of potential risks in operating on, or near, industrial plant, tooling, and machines, or when cleaning, oiling, servicing or during maintenance.

These safety signs and labels create awareness of risks of accidents or injuries from dangerous machinery use. These can include pinch or nip, punch, cut, wrap, crush or entanglement injuries, or accidents from sparks, and flying or falling objects. Injuries can be sustained to head, eyes, body, hands or feet, and can range in severity from minor cuts, scrapes and grazes to broken limbs, loss of eyesight, amputations, asphyxiation and even death.

Much industrial equipment and conveyors have a range of moving parts, including pulley drives, cogwheels, gears and sprockets, rotating cutters or blades, and a variety of exposed screws, keys and bolts, which can cause damage on contact with skin, or entanglement with clothing, jewellery and long hair.

Our signs clearly warn of these dangers, with associated prohibition activities (such as removal of safety guards), the use of necessary personal protective equipment (gloves, glasses, face shields, protective footwear etc.) when operating such machinery, and safety aids, such as eye wash, first aid and emergency showers.

All these health and safety signs and labels comply with the latest standards (ISO EN 7010) for graphics, colours and layouts, and to the Safety Signs and Signals Regulations 1996. These can assist in complying with the Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1974, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998.