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.

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.  

If you are manufacturing products there is a very high chance that you will have to package your product up and transport it to various distribution centres. If your product is fragile, needs to be handled with care or you’re the quality of your product needs to be checked on arrival, you will need to label your package or parcel accordingly. 

Printed packaging tapes are ensures that anyone handling your product or parcel knows the contents of the package and can handle it accordingly (not putting fragile packages at the bottom of the stack). You will find that using packaging tape to label the box is more beneficial than just using labels, as you can cover a larger area of the package with the tape, meaning that the information cannot be missed. 

Here at label source we also offer Tamper Evident packaging tape. If you are transporting sensitive documents you should be using this tape. If someone has attempted to open your parcel in transit then this tape will delaminate leaving an opened or fraud message on your parcel. 

Click here to view our range of printed parcel tapes. 

If you can’t find the tape that you are looking for then please contact us on 0800 3761 693 or email info@labelsource.co.uk 

Tomorrow marks 410 years since Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the houses of parliament. If you are planning a public fireworks display, then carry on reading for some essential tips on how to stay safe on bonfire night. 

1) Check weather conditions, wind direction and plan areas for spectators, people firing the fireworks and safety zone and where the fireworks will fall. Clearly mark these areas with Fencing mesh.

2) If you are hosting a public fireworks display be sure to use barrier tape to keep your audience at a safe distance from the fireworks and bonfire. - Ensure that spectators are no closer than 25 meters to your firework display. 

3) Plan the entry and exit routes, making sure you keep pedestrians and vehicles a safe distance apart if possible. Make sure your exit routs are well lit and clearly marked.

4) Make sure emergency vehicles can easily gain access to the display site if needed. - in the unfortunate event that there is an accident it is essential that the emergancy services can reach your site, make sure that no cars or people block a safe emergancy access route. 

5) Clearly mark routes to the first aid facilities. - it might be that you have a a building where your trained first aid professional is located, make sure the building is clearly marked, and signposts are located across your site guiding visitors to their location.