A print shop looks calm from the front desk. On the production floor it is a different place: guillotines with blades that close under several tonnes of force, hot laminating rollers, UV curing lamps, solvent-based cleaners, laser cutters and pallets of paper that weigh more than a car. Health and safety in the printing industry is not paperwork — it is what decides whether every operator goes home with ten fingers.
This guide explains the main hazards in a printing press, the safety standards that apply to printing companies in the UAE, what good practice looks like on the floor, and exactly how we manage it at Art for Printing in Abu Dhabi.
The main hazards on a print production floor
1. Cutting and finishing machines
Paper guillotines, die-cutters, creasing and trimming machines cause the most serious injuries in the industry: amputations and deep cuts. The controls that matter are fixed guards, two-hand controls and light curtains that stop the blade when a hand crosses the line, a locked-out machine during blade changes, and only trained, authorised operators on each machine.
2. Presses, laminators and rollers
Every roller pair is a nip point that can draw in a glove, a sleeve or a finger. Laminators add heat. Guards must stay in place, emergency stops must work and be tested, and loose clothing, jewellery and long hair are kept away from moving parts.
3. Inks, solvents and cleaning chemicals
Solvent inks, press washes and adhesives release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and can irritate the skin and lungs; some UV inks are skin sensitisers, and UV curing lamps must never be looked at directly. Every chemical needs its Safety Data Sheet (SDS) at hand, proper ventilation, the right gloves and eye protection, and separate, labelled storage away from heat.
4. Lasers, CNC routers and dust
Laser engraving and CNC routing produce fumes and fine dust, and a laser can ignite paper or acrylic. Extraction, eye protection rated for the machine, and never leaving a running laser unattended are the basics.
5. Manual handling, noise, heat and fire
Paper reels and stacked pallets cause back injuries; folding and cutting lines are loud; and in the UAE the summer heat is a hazard in its own right. Paper, board and solvents also make a print shop a high fire load, which is why housekeeping, clear exits and working fire equipment are part of daily safety, not an annual inspection.
The safety standards that apply to printing companies in the UAE
| Standard / regulation | What it requires |
|---|---|
| Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021 and its Executive Regulations | The employer provides a safe workplace, protective equipment and safety training, and informs workers of the risks of their work — at no cost to the worker. (UAE Government portal) |
| Ministerial Resolution No. 44 of 2022 (MOHRE) | Occupational health and safety and labour accommodation rules, including the summer midday break. |
| Summer midday break | No work under direct sun between 12:30 and 15:00 from 15 June to 15 September. (MOHRE) |
| Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety and Health System Framework (ADPHC) | The Abu Dhabi OSH system for risk assessment, incident reporting and safety management in the emirate. |
| Civil Defence — UAE Fire & Life Safety Code | Fire detection, extinguishers, emergency lighting and exits, with a valid Civil Defence certificate for the premises. |
| ISO 45001:2018 | The international management system for occupational health and safety. (ISO) |
| ISO 12643 / EN 1010 | Machine-safety standards written specifically for printing, finishing and paper-converting equipment. |
| GHS Safety Data Sheets | Hazard information, storage and first aid for every ink, solvent and adhesive in use. |
What good practice looks like in a print shop
- A written, signed safety policy that every employee has been taken through — not a poster.
- Stop-work authority: anyone may stop a task they believe is unsafe, without fear of blame.
- Machine authorisation: each machine is run only by people trained and authorised on it.
- Weekly machine safety checks, with faults logged the day they are found and followed until repaired.
- Free PPE issued against a register — who received what, and when.
- Same-day reporting of every injury, near-miss and dangerous occurrence, with an investigation that fixes the cause.
- Training recorded in hours for every employee.
- Heat-stress measures in summer: water, shade, rest and the midday break.
Our commitments at Art for Printing
We print for government offices, airlines, energy companies, hospitals and schools, and their supplier prequalification asks the same question every time: show us how you keep your people safe. This is our answer, and it is published on our Health & Safety commitments page.
- A signed Occupational Health & Safety Policy (HSE-POL-01, September 2026), explained to every production and store employee in person, with a short reading task in our internal training programme for the whole team.
- Stop-work authority for every employee — no one is disciplined for a good-faith stop.
- Free PPE, issued against a register: helmets and cut-resistant gloves have been issued to every production and store worker, and each issue is recorded with the date and the employee's confirmation.
- Weekly machine safety checks completed in our digital system with photos, and every fault tracked until it is repaired.
- An incident and near-miss log: every event is reported the same day, alerts management immediately, and cannot be closed without a root cause and a corrective action.
- Training recorded in hours for every employee — part of our People & Welfare commitments.
- A valid Abu Dhabi Civil Defence certificate, and the summer midday break respected.
- Lower-emission inks — water-based and LED-UV — that reduce solvent exposure on the floor; see our environmental commitments and our approach to eco-friendly waste management.
What we are still working on is published just as openly: an ISO 45001 gap assessment is on our roadmap. We name standards as references, not as certifications we do not yet hold. You can read the full picture in Our Commitments.
Why it matters when you choose a printer
A supplier that manages safety well is a supplier that delivers on time: fewer injuries mean fewer stopped machines, and a floor run on checklists is a floor run on quality. If your organisation needs HSE evidence for a tender or a vendor registration, contact us — we share our policy and records on request. You can also see the industries we serve.
We also help other workplaces stay safe: custom PVC safety and hazard labels, PVC safety banners, roll-up banners for safety campaigns and luminous exit markings are all produced in our Abu Dhabi factory.
Want to work somewhere that takes safety seriously? See our careers page.