Prohibition Signs

The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 compels employers to make available certain safety signs whenever there is a risk that can’t be avoided or controlled by other measures. Where safety signs or prohibition signs would not help to reduce that risk, or where the risk is not significant, there is no need to provide a safety sign or prohibition sign.Prohibition signs are red with a white border and white writing and sometimes include a black pictogram. They include such signs as; No smoking, No parking, No entry, No mobile phones, no entry etc. and give a clear message that that particular action is prohibited – hence the name prohibition signs. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 states that Prohibition Signs must be displayed to forbid certain actions and forbid access to certain areas. According to the regulations, prohibition signs must have a black pictogram encircled by a red band with a red diagonal bar cutting across. The red should form 35% of prohibition signs.

If you are wishing to inhibit certain actions within your workplace or premises with public access, then you should clearly display prohibition signs of the behaviour you are aiming to discontinue. If you are turning your restaurant into a non- smoking restaurant, then the first step is to display prohibition signs to that effect. You may wish to stop dogs from entering your shop, so may display ‘No dogs’ prohibition signs.

Prohibition signs are also displayed to make the workplace a safer place. Staff health and safety training is the most important factor to ensure staff safety within the workplace. On top of this, prohibition signs serve to reinforce what has been learned about safety in the workplace. For example, in a factory, prohibition signs may be displayed stating ‘Do not oil or clean this machine whilst in motion’, ‘No unauthorised persons beyond this point’, or ‘Do not use this lift in the event of a fire’.