Here in the UK, it falls under the remit of the business owner to ensure their employees can safely evacuate a building. In the event of an emergency, this protects their safety and reduces the risk of serious accidents. Safety signs are specifically designed to help with this, offering a visual guide that directs and informs individuals in unison. The exact requirements for a business will vary depending on many factors, but let’s look at what safety signs exist to assist in the event of an emergency.
Why May You Need To Evacuate A Building?
In the event of sudden or increasing hazards, it may be essential to move employees, visitors and guests outside of the building. Some common reasons for evacuation include:
- Fire
- Burst Water Pipes
- Chemical Exposure
- Gas Leak Detection.
In all of these situations, remaining in the building increases the possibility of serious accidents and even death.
Safety Signs To Assist In Evacuation
As part of your fire safety plans, it is vital that you create straightforward, easy-to-follow and switch exit routes to direct individuals outside of a building. To do this, you may need to use a combination of the following signs:
- British Standard Exit Signs – Green and white signs with directional lines and universally recognisable symbols towards a fire exit.
- Door Plate Fire Exit Signs – Designed to affix to fire doors, providing directional instructions and housekeeping rules.
- Fire Exit Luminere Signs – Glow-in-the-dark signs that help with visibility during low-light conditions.
- Wheelchair Fire Exit Arrow Up Signs – These specialist signs provide guidance to wheelchair users, ensuring they can find the nearest refuge location or an unhindered pathway out of the building.
Setting Up An Evacuation Process
As with any safety measure implemented in your business, it is important to understand the hazards presented first. A risk assessment provides your health and safety representative with this information. From here, you can work to identify the best routes out of a building and install safety signs to help support this. Access your signs once installed. Are they:
- Fitted at eye level or a highly visible location.
- Fitted in a well-lit environment, or one that has backup lighting in the event of a blackout.
- Installed in a way that does not confuse the reader. You must make sure there are not too many or too few signs near each other as the messages can become scrambled.
The right combination of safety signs will ensure evacuation is a swift and easy process. At Lasting Impressions, we have a host of experience supplying signs to clients throughout various industries. If you have any questions, cannot find the sign you’re looking for or need to speak to one of us, please do get in contact here today.
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