Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported that funeral directors may be at increased risk of developing motor neurone disease (MND) if they work with formaldehyde. This news was based on a recent American study, which found that "men* in jobs with high probability of exposure versus no formaldehyde exposure had an almost three times greater rate of mortality from motor neurone disease".

Funeral directors sometimes use formaldehyde to embalm dead bodies (an increasingly popular option amongst grieving families who wish to view the deceased in a chapel of rest), but use of this chemical is carefully regulated - this report isn't the first to link formaldehyde to nerve damage. The aforementiond Mail article features a quote from Alan Slater, CEO of the National Association of Funeral Directors, who made it clear that health and safety guidelines are crucial for the protection of funeral directors who use formaldehyde; Slater specifically cited "the use of appropriate protective clothing and equipment" as an important factor, along with "a strict adherence to manufacturers' instructions".

Here at Label Source, we sell a wide range of products that can be used to minimise risk when using such hazardous chemicals as formaldehyde. Our COSHH signs remind employees to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and observe the relevant precautions, while our UN labels should be used to identify hazardous substances when in transit.

Visit our Hazardous Substances & Chemicals department to browse Label Source's full range of chemical hazard products.

*The same results were not observed in women, but according to the Mail article, "this could be because the amount of women in the study with exposure to high levels of formaldehyde was too small".

We sell a huge range of products here at Label Source, but what we really specialise in is made-to-order solutions. Our labels come in all sorts of sizes, shapes, colours, materials, and thicknesses, so we're confident that we can meet your requirements, no matter what they might be!

Here are some examples of the choice that's on offer:

Materials

We are capable of supplying bespoke labels in a variety of different materials, including polyester, vinyl, and aluminium foil. Some materials may be more suitable for your circumstances than others - if in doubt, feel free to contact the Label Source team for advice. We can also provide materials with built-in security features, such as tamper-proof destructible vinyl (which fragments upon attempted removal) and tamper-evident polyester (which leaves behind a permanent mark if removed).

Colours & Designs

The colour choices available to you will depend on the material you select (for example, foil labels will almost always have a metallic grey background), but even with this in mind, there are still surprisingly few limits on what we can do for you. We can even add a custom design to your labels - your company logo, for example, or another illustration of your own devising. Examples of our custom-branded labels can be found here.

Information

Our bespoke labels can be printed with practically any information, from something as simple as your company's name to something as complex as an interleaved bar code system. No matter what you're planning to use your labels for, we can provide the perfect made-to-order solution!

Contact us to discuss your labelling requirements, or try our Custom Asset Tag Builder now!

Labelling your pipes is important for a number of reasons. It makes life easier for service personnel, but more importantly, it allows you to warn of any potential hazards. For example, if your pipes carry toxic substances or dangerous gases, this should be identified using the appropriate pipe identification tape.

Pipelines need to be labelled in a number of key locations. The list below is by no means exhaustive - additional pipe labels or signage may be necessary depending on your circumstances - but it should give you a rough idea of what's required.

Pipes must be labelled at the following points:

• At the point of entry to, and exit from, any tanks, manifolds, hose connections, and elevated pipe racks
• Adjacent to any control valves, flow meters, and pumps
• Along straight lengths of pipework (with no more than 8 metres between each marking)
• Within 1 metre of passing through walls, perimeter fencing, the ground, and any other barriers
• At tee connections and other fittings
• Any other locations that have been assessed as possible hazards

If you need any tapes, tags or labels for your pipework, visit our Pipe & Valve Marking department.

If you're not wholly familiar with the wide world of asset tagging, you may be surprised to see just how many different types of asset label there are. Asset marking isn't a one-size-fits-all industry; as an asset label supplier, we at Label Source have to be extremely flexible in the range that we offer.

For example...

High-security asset labels

Many of our clients request an asset labelling solution that will make it difficult for would-be thieves to remove the asset labels from the goods to which they're affixed. We have two different options for these customers: destructible asset labels, which frament on attempted removal (see image above), and tamper-evident asset labels, which leave behind a permanent pattern when removed. Both types of label make it nigh-impossible to completely eliminate the evidence of theft.

Two-part asset tags

Many business owners need two copies of each asset label: one label for the assets themselves, and a corresponding label for their records. Our dual asset labels were designed with these people in mind - each one is made up of two detachable parts, each bearing the same information.

Extra-large asset labels

There are numerous reasons why someone might need jumbo-sized asset labels for their goods and products. Their increased size makes them easily visible from greater distances, which is ideal for a crowded warehouse, but these asset labels are also ideal for large-scale assets such as plant machinery and heavy-duty factory equipment.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg - we have a huge range of asset labels to choose from, allowing us to meet almost any set of requirements. Click here to view our full range, or use our Asset Tag Builder to create customised asset labels of your own!

The House of Commons begins its summer recess later this month, which means that 'Silly Season' is almost upon us once more. Sily Season is that time of year when newspapers, in lieu of any important parliamentary developments to follow, start writing about any frivolous non-story they can get their hands on - prepare to see a lot of scaremongering, false moral panics, and general nonsense over the next couple of months as the papers desperately try to keep their readers interested.

Sadly, another staple of Silly Season is the 'elf and safety gone mad' story. Here's a good example from the Evening Express website, published a week ago:

Here's the problem: Aberdeen City Council may or may not be in the wrong here, but the newspaper is using the dispute to reinforce the idea that health and safety is here to ruin everyone's fun, rather than to save our lives. This play equipment story is a relatively tame example, too; far sillier stories made the news last summer, with everything from Frisbees to strawberry sauce reportedly being banned for health and safety reasons.

We're not just blaming the newspapers here. After all, these ridiculous stories make for rather funny reading, and the vast majority are true - many companies do use health and safety as an excuse for bizarre, nonsensical decisions, and that's clearly the root of this problem. Even so, newspapers make matters far worse by devoting column inches to these daft stories; if the British public are constantly being told that health and safety is stupid, it won't be long before they start believing it.

For instance, have you ever heard someone complain about the 'nanny state' or dismiss important safety measures as 'unnecessary red tape'? If so, you've already witnessed the effect that silly 'elf and safety' stories can have on people's attitudes. Stories like that one from the Evening Express teach us that health and safety is exclusively for spoilsports and wet blankets, when in fact health and safety regulations - the real ones, mind you - are in place to protect us.

So, this Silly Season, ignore any reports of 'elf and safety gone mad' and instead spread the word about why health and safety is so utterly important to the Great British public. Safety signs, warning labels, and all those other safety precautions are there for a reason, and sometimes the silly stories can make us forget that!

More health and safety insight here.

Newspaper photo by Jon S