1. Heat warning signs

A heat warning sign can be positioned at entrances to construction sites, warehouses, yards, depots and other outdoor working environments to alert employees to unusually high temperatures.

These can also include the key precautions your business has introduced, creating one central point of information for employees arriving on site. For example:

HEAT WARNING – HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY
Drink water regularly
Take regular breaks
Use designated shaded areas
Report symptoms of heat-related illness

Bespoke health and safety signs and site boards can be created with messaging specific to your workplace, helping you communicate your hot-weather procedures clearly.

2. Hydration reminder signs

Access to drinking water is particularly important when employees are carrying out physical work in hot conditions.

But it's also useful to remind people to use it.

Strategically placed health and safety signage, posters, vinyl stickers and site boards can provide regular visual reminders to stay hydrated throughout the working day.

Consider placing hydration reminders near entrances, staff facilities, clocking-in points, changing areas and locations where employees regularly pass. For example:

DRINK WATER REGULARLY – STAY HYDRATED

3. Water refill point signs

Providing drinking water is one thing. Making sure everyone knows where to find it is another.

On large construction sites, logistics yards, outdoor events and industrial premises, directional signage and wayfinding signs can help employees quickly identify their nearest drinking-water point.

Signs can be wall-mounted, fixed to fencing or incorporated into post and panel signs, depending on your site.

For temporary water stations, portable or temporary signage can provide a flexible solution during periods of particularly hot weather.

4. Heat stress signs

Heat stress can become a risk when the body is unable to adequately control its temperature, with physical activity, humidity, clothing and PPE potentially contributing to the risk.

Businesses can use warning signs and health and safety signs to reinforce their heat-stress procedures in relevant working areas.

Larger site boards can also display more detailed information, including symptoms employees should look out for and the steps they should take if they begin to feel unwell.

5. Shaded and cool rest area signs

If you've introduced shaded or cooler rest areas for employees, make them easy to find.

Directional signs, wayfinding signage and post and panel signs can clearly identify designated rest areas, particularly across large outdoor workplaces.

For temporary sites and outdoor events, banners and temporary rigid signage can also provide highly visible directions.

6. Sun protection signs

Depending on your workplace and risk assessment, you may want to remind outdoor employees about the sun-protection measures you've introduced.

Bespoke signs could include messages such as:

USE SUNSCREEN

WEAR A HAT WHERE APPROPRIATE

COVER EXPOSED SKIN

AVOID DIRECT SUN WHERE POSSIBLE

Rather than relying on generic off-the-shelf signs, bespoke health and safety signage allows businesses to display the specific instructions relevant to their employees and working environment.

7. Hot surface warning signs

It's not only the air temperature businesses need to consider.

Metal surfaces, machinery, roofing materials, equipment and vehicles exposed to direct sunlight can become extremely hot.

Where a hot-surface hazard has been identified, appropriate hazard signs, warning signs and vinyl labels can be used to clearly mark the affected area or equipment.

These can be produced in materials suitable for indoor or outdoor use and at a size appropriate for the viewing distance and environment.

8. Heat exhaustion and emergency information signs

Employees working outside should know how to recognise when they or a colleague may be becoming unwell.

A larger health and safety board, site board or workplace poster can display key symptoms in a prominent location, such as:

• Dizziness

• Headache

• Nausea

• Excessive sweating

• Weakness

• Severe thirst

• Muscle cramps

This signage can also include your business's procedure for reporting symptoms and tell employees where to go for assistance.

Emergency information should follow appropriate current health and safety and medical guidance.

Where should heatwave signs be displayed?

Effective signage isn't just about what the sign says. Where you put it matters too.

For businesses with employees working outdoors, consider displaying hot-weather signage at:

• Site and yard entrances

• Staff entrances

• Clocking-in areas

• Construction site hoardings

• Welfare facilities

• Drinking-water stations

• Loading bays

• Vehicle depots

• Outdoor working areas

• Staff rest areas

• Temporary shaded areas

• Areas containing heat-sensitive equipment or hot surfaces

Using a combination of health and safety signs, directional signage, site boards and warning signs can help create a clear communication system across the workplace.

What type of signage is best for outdoor workplaces?

Outdoor signs need to withstand very different conditions from a poster displayed inside an office.

At Signs Express, we can recommend signage materials and products based on where the sign will be positioned, how long it's needed and how the information needs to be displayed.

Health and safety signs

Ideal for displaying warnings, instructions and mandatory information around workplaces, construction sites, warehouses and outdoor working areas.

Site boards

A useful option when you need to communicate several pieces of information in one place. A bespoke heatwave safety board could combine temperature warnings, hydration reminders, heat-stress symptoms and site-specific instructions.

Directional and wayfinding signage

Ideal for directing employees towards water refill points, welfare facilities, first aid points and shaded rest areas.

Post and panel signs

A highly visible freestanding solution for larger sites where wall-mounted signage isn't suitable.

Vinyl stickers and labels

Useful for smaller warnings and messages applied directly to machinery, equipment, doors, windows and other surfaces.

Banners

A flexible, highly visible solution for temporary hot-weather messaging, particularly at outdoor events, construction sites and larger workplaces.

Temporary signage

If additional precautions are only required during periods of extreme heat, temporary signage can give businesses the flexibility to display important messages when they're needed and remove or update them as conditions change.