Safety Markings

Safety markings and industrial floor marking across Bournemouth and Dorset

Safety markings show people and vehicles where they can go, where they can't, and what must be kept clear. On a busy site they separate walkways from vehicle routes, mark hazards around machinery and keep fire exits and equipment free, so everyone can see the rules at a glance.

Bournemouth White Lining marks factory, workshop and depot floors, commercial yards and the outside areas around them, across Bournemouth, Dorset and the surrounding counties. For racking, aisles and pallet layouts, see our warehouse floor marking.

What the law asks for

Two sets of regulations shape the safety markings on a workplace floor:

• Traffic routes. Under regulation 17 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, a workplace must be organised so pedestrians and vehicles can move around safely, and traffic routes must be suitably indicated where that's needed for health or safety.
• Colours. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 say vehicle routes should be marked with continuous stripes in a clearly visible colour, preferably white or yellow. Obstacles and dangerous locations are marked with alternating yellow and black, or red and white, stripes.

Neither sets out a full layout. That comes from your risk assessment and how the site works, and we'll help you turn it into clear markings on the floor.

Safety markings we lay

• Pedestrian walkways and crossing points
• Forklift and vehicle routes
• Hazard hatching around machinery, obstacles and edges
• Step edge markings
• Keep clear zones at doors, fire exits and fire-fighting equipment
• Storage and pallet area boundaries
• Loading bay areas, fire routes and walkways outside

Recent work includes internal floor painting at Tidworth Barracks, with a red walkway coating and yellow edge lines.

Inside and outside the building

Indoors, safety markings are painted onto the floor, in colours your staff learn once and see everywhere. A widely used scheme puts vehicle routes in yellow, walkways in green, fire equipment and exits in red, and hazards in black and yellow hatching. Our guide to warehouse line marking colour codes sets out the full scheme.

Outside, yards, car parks and access roads take far more wear, so we usually lay hard-wearing thermoplastic. At Castlepoint in Bournemouth we marked a red fire route alongside a green pedestrian walkway. Our guide to loading bay and fire route markings covers commercial yards in more detail.

How a safety marking job works

1. Tell us about your site. Call 01202 548 102 or use the form below. A floor plan, photos and how people and vehicles move around help us understand the job.
2. We plan the layout and give you a price. We'll suggest routes, walkways and keep clear zones that suit how you work, based on your risk assessment.
3. We prepare the floor. It needs to be clean and dry. If the layout is changing, we remove the old markings first.
4. We mark the site. We measure accurately, keep to the agreed timings and plan the work to keep disruption to your operation low.

Recent projects

Why choose Bournemouth White Lining

• More than 25 years of line marking in Bournemouth and the surrounding counties
• Accreditations including CHAS, Constructionline, Safecontractor, SMAS and ISO 9001
• Clients including Bournemouth Airport, AFC Bournemouth, Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Morgan Sindall
• Indoor and outdoor safety markings from one team, so a whole site follows one colour scheme

We're based in Throop, Bournemouth, and cover Poole, Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset, including Weymouth, Southampton, Salisbury, Portsmouth and Yeovil.

Safety marking questions