Site safety signs and their meanings

Most workplaces will need some safety signage, but construction sites will need a great deal of it. This is because they are a high-risk working environment, where there is a lot that can potentially go wrong.

Construction sites have dangers for those who work on them, but also for the general public. This is why the various safety signs are so important.

Before you can be sure that your site has all the safety signage it needs, you must know the different signs and their meanings. This is what this article will be looking at.

The main types of site safety signs

Safety signage can be divided into four main categories, which are:

• Prohibition signs
• Warning signs
• Mandatory signs
• Safe condition signs

Prohibition signs

The purpose of a prohibition sign is to prevent people from partaking in activities that will put them in danger. For this reason, these signs often feature graphics depicting actions that should be avoided. They can range from No Entry to No Smoking.

The graphics will always be black, which brings us to another important point.

Each of the safety signage categories has its own colour scheme. When it comes to prohibition signs, the colours used are red, white and black. These signs are circle-shaped, with a red rim and a white centre.

The graphic is in black and there will be a red line across it, to show that it is prohibited. Any featured text will be white.

Warning signs

Warning signs are designed to alert people to potential dangers in the vicinity. Some examples of them include Asbestos, High Voltage, Harmful Chemicals, Work Overhead and Wet Floor signs. The text for a warning sign will often feature either the word ‘caution’ or ‘danger’ in capital letters too.

The main shape used for these signs is a triangle, which usually has a black exclamation mark in the centre of it. This is intended to be highly visible, even from a distance. The exclamation mark also emphasises the seriousness of the warning.

The chosen colour scheme for them is yellow and black, which provides a high level of contrast. Any writing or symbols will be in black, while the background is always either yellow or amber. Warning signage is absolutely essential on a construction site, because the work will involve dangerous equipment, materials and electrics.

Mandatory signs

Mandatory signs are another common feature of a building site. Their purpose is to highlight behaviours that must be conformed to in order to ensure safety.

Classic examples of these include Hard Hats Must be Worn, Wear Gloves, Fire Door Keep Shut and Safety Harness Must be Worn. They prevent people from entering dangerous areas of the site without performing those safety actions.

These signs are circular in shape, and they always use a blue and white colour scheme. The writing is in white, while the background will be blue. Again, that mix ensures that the text stands out and can be seen easily from any distance.

Safe condition signs

The job of safe condition signs is to tell people what to do – or where to go – if there is an emergency. The most common examples of them are First Aid, Fire Exit, Fire Assembly Point and Spill Kit.

Safe condition signs are always rectangular and they use green and white colouring. The writing will be in white against a green background; if imagery is used, this too is usually white against a green background. These signs also often feature white arrows pointing people towards emergency exits.

Those are the main types of safety signage found on construction sites, but they are not the only ones. For instance, you are also likely to encounter fire equipment signs. These are square-shaped and feature white images on red backgrounds. They often do not contain any actual text, just a graphic depicting the relevant piece of equipment.

Their purpose is to let people know where essential fire-fighting equipment like extinguishers are kept. Other examples of fire equipment signage include Fire Blankets, Hydrants and Fire Alarms.

The purpose of site safety signs

Each of these sign types serves a different purpose – but also the same. They are all there to keep workers and the public safe, as well as to protect your business. If someone was to suffer an injury on your site because the danger was not clearly signposted, you would be liable for any damages incurred.

For site safety signs in Manchester that meet all legal obligations, contact Ainsley Signs right away.