You know the importance of keeping your tradies, contractors, carpenters, and builders as safe as possible on a construction site.
Health and safety hazard signs are a critical part of your workplace, helping to clearly indicate dangers, hazards, and rules that must be followed.
They also help you to comply with the Australian rules and regulations regarding safety in workplaces.
Why are safety signs important in construction?
Safety signs are essential on construction sites because of the many risks, hazards, and dangers posed from:
- High work stations
- Heavy materials
- Powerful tools
- Dangerous machinery
- Noise
Some of the most common hazards or injuries include:
- Lacerations
- Bruises
- Burns
- Falls, slips, and trips
- Injury due to lifting or pushing
One imperative way to minimise these risks is with safety signs.
Safety signs in Australia inform workers, visitors, and anyone else on site of what hazards may be present, and importantly, what actions to take or steps to follow in order to reduce the risk of injury.
Where are safety signs needed?
On a construction site, workplace safety signs in Australia need to be placed in the proximity of any present threats.
We look at some of the locations found on the construction sites and why these areas require signage.
Working at heights during construction
While builders are constructing a building, they are often positioned on scaffolding or half-completed floors and rooms.
As you would expect, these areas can heighten the danger or risk of injury due to falls. An example of a sign that may be required when working at dangerous heights is our SAFETY HARNESS MUST BE WORN mandatory sign.
Safety signs can also warn others to stay out of unauthorised areas.
When operating tools or machinery
A busy site, with people and machinery operating in full swing, requires signs to ensure the health and safety of your crew at all times.
When operating dangerous tools, signs can instruct users to protect themselves with PPE such as:
- Earmuffs
- Eye protection
- Hand protection
- Protective clothing
- Safety vests
Around hazardous materials
Hazardous building materials are materials that contain potentially dangerous compounds such as asbestos or lead-based paint.
Workers may also be exposed to bacteria in sewage, pesticides, or fuels.
In such instances, you need safety signs to instruct employees to take the proper precautions to stay safe when being exposed to hazardous materials.
In many cases, a custom site safety panel can help share a range of information, instructions, and rules for those operating on site.
Foot and road traffic
Expecting imports of cement, wood, or other materials is common on any given construction day.
Safety signs are essential here to indicate where vehicles can safely stop and how to enter and exit the site.
If your site is close by to external individuals, such as pedestrians, you also need to ensure they have a safe alternative when passing by your site.
Danger signs such as CONSTRUCTION SITE – NO ENTRY clearly and quickly convey an important instruction to those unfamiliar with your site.
What signs are needed on a construction site?
You need to be aware of the specific types of workplace signs that are available and how they can benefit you and your workers at your construction site.
Take note of the following:
Social distancing signs
COVID-19 isn’t disappearing any time soon, and while we’re learning to live with it, we still need to follow a ‘COVID-safe’ plan.
Depending on the state you live in and its government regulations, COVID-safe signs encourage thorough hand washing, social distancing, and helpful information to stay safe.
Mandatory signs
Mandatory signs usually inform a person of any protective gear or accessories they must wear, or instructions they must follow, in order to preserve safety.
That may include instructions such as:
- EYE PROTECTION MUST BE WORN
- SAFETY VEST MUST BE WORN
- AISLE MUST BE KEPT CLEAR
Danger signs
Australian standards and OH&S laws are very strict when it comes to appropriate danger signage in your workplace, whether that’s the chemical industry, transport, or in the case of this blog post, a construction site.
Danger signs indicate an immediate hazard that may result in serious injury or even death. They include signs that identify voltage, asbestos, chemicals, corrosives, and much more.
How can I keep my workplace safe?
Shop smart with Signsmart’s online sign store
We deliver to anywhere in Australia and are fully compliant with Australian standards relating to dimensions and formatting of all safety signs.
Signsmart has everything you need to create a safe and compliant workplace. In addition to safety, mandatory, and danger signs, we also offer luminous exit signs, parking signs, andstorage labels.
Got something unique in mind? We can help! We create custom made safety signs to meet your niche requirements to protect your team, assets, and business.
Shop safety signs online now or get in touch with us if you need custom signage: (03) 9687 3050 or fill out this form and we’ll get back to you soon!