for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects. CDM applies to all building and construction work and includes new build, demolition, refurbishment, extensions, conversions, repair and maintenance. The trade association representing manufacturers and suppliers of safety signs is the Heath & Safety Sign Association (HSSA). The association was formed with the purpose of educating the nation on signage legislation, in order to improve health and safety for everyone. With members from some of the largest signage companies in the country, the HSSA keep up to date with any legislative changes that may happen within the UK. As it states in its Mission Statement: “Not only do the HSSA aim to keep you clued up on the legislative side of signage, they also ensure that all of their own signage conforms to the required standards. This means you can rest assured, knowing your signage will be compliant.” Uniformity of signage and the pictograms used is ensured by conformity with the International Building Code (IBC), which is the foundation of the complete ‘Family of International Codes’. It is an essential tool to preserve public health and safety that provides safeguards from hazards associated with the built environment. It addresses design and installation of innovative materials that meet or exceed public health and safety goals. In addition to the familiar ‘wall’ of signs at site entrances, specific signs are displayed at strategic points around the site. The colours are coded to represent different types of information. Again, as HASPOD points out: “Construction site safety signs are not put up for decoration, and the colours haven't been chosen because they look pretty. Each sign has a meaning, and each colour represents a different message. Knowing what construction health and safety signs mean is important because they could be warning you about a danger, or telling you to do something. And if you don't
understand the sign, and fail to follow the message, you could get hurt, or worse.” The different types of sign and the type of information they convey is available on the HSSA website at hssa.co.uk. q
With hoardings the medium has become the message [THE ABILITY OF a perimeter hoarding to draw people’s attention
has been taken up in recent years by both site owners and contractors to promote themselves and their activities. The hoarding has become an advertising billboard in some cases and a work of art promoting the function the new building will fulfill in others. The use of hoardings as art is not new: it dates back to the 1970s with installations by artists such as Rochdale-based Walter Kershaw and his collaborators – latterly known as ‘the original Banksie’ – on sites such as the rebuilding of the burnt-down market building in Bury as a transport interchange, the development of the Kelloggs building in Trafford Park and BNFL’s site in Cumbria. From pure works of art the site hoarding has evolved into full ‘landscapes’, filling in the gap in the environment with an artistic interpretation of what is to come. Embedded in the work of art is the important information on what is to be encountered inside the site. q
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