Health and safety regulations require employers to use safety signs where there is a significant risk to health and safety that has not been avoided or controlled by other methods required under law, providing the use of a sign can help reduce the risk. Safety signs are not a substitute for other methods of controlling risks such as controls and safe systems of work.

They apply to all workplaces and to all activities where people are employed, but exclude signs used in connection with transport or the supply and marketing of dangerous substances, products and equipment. Here are some common examples - click to enlarge.