Hazard Signs

What are hazard signs?

Hazard signs are a type of safety sign and are used to highlight potential risks. They are essential not only to protecting the health (and even lives) of workers and visitors, but ensuring your business operates in a legal way, including the Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations (COSHH), which stipulates certain hazardous substances must be marked with specific hazardous symbols.

What are the different types of hazard signs?

There are three types of hazard signs:

Warning hazard signs

Warning Signs are used to highlight a risk that may result in serious injury or death. Warning signs can be quickly identified by their yellow triangle shape and bold black exclamation points and accompanying writing. Depending on your business, you may need to use hazard warning signs at various points throughout your premises. For example, a construction site needs to ensure a Warning Falling Objects sign is present in appropriate areas as a falling object striking someone’s head could cause severe injury or death.

Danger hazard signs

Danger Signs are used to highlight a risk that will most likely result in death, making them vital for any business to protect lives. They also use a yellow triangle with black images/writing to effectively convey an alarming message, but will often feature pictures to demonstrate the risk more visually. For example, the Danger Electric Shock Risk sign uses the picture of a falling man below a bolt to indicate an electric shock.

Caution hazard signs

Caution hazard signs are used to highlight a risk that could cause injury but is unlikely to result in death. While they depict the least serious types of hazards, they should be treated with equal importance to avoid injury, absenteeism and legal repercussions. For example, a Caution Very Hot Water sign should be used where appropriate to avoid burns to employees.

To learn more, you can read our full guide to the different types of hazard signs.

Where should hazard signs be located?

Hazard signs should be installed in a highly visible location (ideally at eye level, or 1.5m-2m from the ground/floor) in the area where the relevant risk is present, as well as the entrance to any area where the risk is present. For example, a Fragile Roof sign should be used before the worker reaches the roof, as they will need to get appropriate safety equipment before attempting to work in the area. To learn more about the different hazard signs you might need, read our guide to the most common types of workplace hazards.

Are hazard signs required by law?

Yes. Safety hazard signs are required by the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) regulations (1996) and the Control Of Hazardous Hazardous to Health regulations (COSHH). The former states that where there is a risk present that cannot be adequately removed, employers must provide safety signage to inform workers and visitors of risks, while COSHH highlights the need for hazardous symbols - or COSHH symbols - to be placed on certain substances to ensure their risks are known to those involved in handling, storing or delivering them. To learn more, read our guide to all nine COSHH symbols.