Health and safety posters - UK display laws

Employers have a duty to display health and safety signage and relevant posters in the work place. Understanding exactly what needs to be done can be a difficult task for new office and work place mangers. In this guide, we'll show you what you need to do to comply with minimum UK health and safety legislation requirements.

Health and safety poster

Employers have a legal duty to display the health and safety law poster under the Health and Safety Information for Employees Regulation. This poster should be displayed in a prominent position in the work place. Leaflets
Alternatively, each individual employee can be issued with a leaflet outlining the same information. If you decide to choose this option, then consider having a record book where workers have to physically sign to say that they received this information. Health and safety training courses
Build in awareness of basic health and safety laws into induction training and make sure that refresher courses are available to those employees who want them. Try to issue mandatory refresher courses on an annual basis. Poster update deadline
Make sure that you have a new copy of the health and safety law poster. Employers have until 5 April 2014 to update from the old poster to the new HSE safety poster with images.
Material
Look out for semi rigid PVC coated posters for better longevity in the work place.

Other signs

There are a range of other signs and posters that you should display in your work place. Perform a risk assessment of your site. If any recommendations for personal protective equipment are suggested, make sure that blue mandatory PPE signs are displayed next to the relevant machines or equipment. Specialist equipment
Similarly, if you use machines that need specialist first aid equipment, make sure that a first aid poster and relevant first aid equipment is located in the place where the machine is found.
Markings
Other on-site hazards should be marked with yellow and black hazard markings. All signs are available as permanent installations or as sticky back vinyl which can be applied to equipment.
Final word
It goes without saying that if you need to display a sign as a warning, then you also need to provide training in this area. If you are unsure as to the minimum requirements, then as an HSE representative about the minimum requirements for your particular situation. Also, be sure to obtain an accident and reporting log book and make sure that everyone knows where it is, what it is for and how to use it.