How to choose the right sized safety mirror

Convex mirrors: a massive safety boost for every car park

How to choose a convex mirror to make your car park and warehouse zones safer

Safety mirrors are large, heavy-duty mirrors that can be convex or domed in shape. They are designed specifically for use by motorists and pedestrians to help with increased visibility around blind corners. 

Mounting these convex safety mirrors in areas such as industrial car parks and near warehouse roller doors ensures that cars, trucks and forklifts can see oncoming vehicles or pedestrians, even around tricky corners. 

Available in different sizes and types, Jaybro’s safety mirrors are designed for indoor or outdoor use. Installing a safety mirror is sure to increase safety around your car park or warehouse, but it’s important to choose the right one for your site. 

How to calculate the right size safety mirror

When you are buying a convex safety mirror, it’s important to get the right size, as each one is designed for a specific viewing distance. If you choose a mirror that is too small you may not be able to see as far as you need to. On the other hand, if you choose one that is overly large for the job, the reflective image will appear bigger, distorting your depth perception and your estimate of how far away the hazard is. Therefore, there is a range of mirrors available which are all designed for different viewing distances. 

To calculate the right size of safety mirror for your car park, workshop, factory, site or warehouse, you’ll need to take a few measurements. 

First up, measure the approximate expected distance between the viewer and the mirror. Then, measure the distance from the mirror to the object that needs to be spotted around the corner.

For example, John is looking to install a mirror on the outside corner of his factory. He wants to create better visibility between a driveway exit around one corner, and staff exit door on the other. 

If the driveway is at the front of John’s building, and the staff door at the side, he’ll need to measure how far it is from the mirror to the staff doorway, and add this on to the distance from the mirror to the driveway. This combined distance will give John an indication of the size of mirror he needs.

For example, from the corner of the building to the roller door might be 10 metres, and the corner of the building to the staff door is 8 metres, so John needs a mirror that will cover 18m. In that case, Jaybro would suggest a 600mm mirror which is ideal for distances up to 20 metres. 

As a guide, the bigger the mirror, the further you can see: 

• 450mm mirrors are suitable for distances up to 15m
• 600mm mirrors are suitable for distances up to 20m
• 800mm mirrors are suitable for distances up to 25m
• 1000mm diameter mirrors are suitable for distances over 25m

How to mount your safety mirror

Jaybro’s range of safety mirrors come complete with mounting brackets making them easy to fix to a wall or to a 60mm OD post or pole. They are fully adjustable to almost any position and will provide up to around 180 degree vision, but it’s important to fix them at the right height for the optimum viewing experience.

For both indoor and outdoor applications, fixing a mirror at around 2 to 3 metres from the ground is ideal. Any lower and it can become a risk to pedestrians or obstruct the easy flow of vehicles. 

Before mounting your mirror to a wall or post, consider any potential effects from high winds, weather conditions, or whether the mirror will jut out into a thoroughfare causing a safety issue.

Indoor vs outdoor safety mirrors

There are specific models of convex mirrors that are designed for indoor or outdoor use. The main design difference is that outdoor mirrors have a high-visibility orange visor or surround around the top of them, helping to prevent extreme weather damage, bird droppings and unnecessary sun glare. 

Outdoor safety mirrors are heavy duty and weatherproof making them ideal for large commercial complexes, industrial buildings and factories, outdoor car parks, open air loading docks, private driveway entrances, local and council roads and other similar outdoor areas. 

Indoor convex mirrors, on the other hand, are ideal for eliminating blind spots in warehouses, multi-level parking stations, shopping centres, offices, hospitals and high traffic areas. 

What makes safety mirrors so great? 

Safety mirrors are made from strong polycarbonate with a convex surface to enable extra visibility near blind corners and areas where vision is impaired or blocked. Convex means the mirror surface bends outwards like a bubble (not to be confused with concave, which bends inwards like a bowl). 

They are designed to offer minimum distortion ensuring that they do not create an additional safety hazard by warping the view of oncoming vehicles. However, it’s important to note that due to the convex design, all mirrors create some level of distortion. 

Made tough, they are virtually unbreakable making them suitable for high vandal risk areas or adverse industrial conditions. And, they’re fully backed by our 7 year warranty. 

Buy a safety mirror from Jaybro – the site safety experts

Jaybro stocks a wide range of safety mirrors, and we have warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra + more. So whether your workplace is in the city or in a regional area we can get new safety mirror delivered quickly. 

Contact our friendly team for great prices on safety mirrors.

Disclaimer: This information is provided as an introductory guide only and does not constitute professional advice. Ensure you make your own independent enquiries before deciding if a particular product is right for you. Consult the regulations and standards applicable to your area and check with your workplace health and safety representative for further information. Jaybro does not warrant the accuracy, content, completeness or suitability of the information on this site (or any site owned by the Jaybro Group) for your individual purposes.