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Safety Signs, Symbols and Colour Codes – a simple guide
Welcome to Free Sign
We have a large selection of OSHA and statutory signs for you to print out using your PC and it’s printer. We have available the most commonly used safety signs you might need to comply with todays Health and safety regulations.
Our signs are quick and easy to use. Simply find the sign you want, press print and your done. Quick and free.
We will be expanding our collection of safety signage and if there is something you are looking for and can’t find just let us know and we will try and help you.
Safety signs
a sign providing information or instruction about safety or health at work by means of a signboard, a color, an illuminated sign or acoustic signal, a verbal communication or hand signal.
Safety boards
a sign which provides information or instructions by a combination of shape, colour and a symbol or pictogram which is rendered visible by lighting of sufficient intensity.
Safety colors
a colour to which a specific meaning is assigned (eg yellow means ‘be careful’ or ‘take precautions’)
Safety signs are used to:
• draw attention to health and safety hazards
• point out hazards that may not be obvious
• provide general information and directions
• remind employees where personal protective
• equipment must be worn
• show where emergency equipment is located
• indicate where certain actions are prohibited
Sign Categories
As shown in the table below, there are three basic sign categories used in the workplace:
- regulatory
- warning
- information
Each category is distinguished by its shape. These categories are divided into sub-categories that can be recognized by their color.
Sign Types
One of three sign types should be used to communicate a message:
- Symbol sign
- Symbol sign with text
- Text sign
Use symbols that are simple and easy to learn and recognize. Include simple wording (text) to help explain the meaning of the symbol or to provide more information. Text signs should only be used when no appropriate symbols exist.
Safety Sign and Color Use
After determining your needs, work with your health and safety representative or committee to set standards for signs and colors to use throughout the workplace.
Ensure the signs and colors are used consistently. Research shows that companies that have implemented a uniform sign and color system to make hazards more visible and easy to identify have successfully lowered their injury frequency rates. Workers know that signs and colors mean the same thing even when they work in different departments or plant locations. It also enables employees to quickly locate first aid, fire fighting and other emergency equipment.
The signs and colors in your workplace should provide enough information for persons to protect their health and safety. Signs, especially those that indicate hazards, should:
- attract a person’s attention
- clearly identify the nature of the hazard
- specify the immediate action required
- be posted in a place that provides enough time for a person to read the sign and act accordingly
- be easily recognized and understood by all employees
- reflect the needs of those who have visual limitations or who do not speak English
- be sized or placed according to the importance of the message
Posting Signs
- Signs should be clearly visible, positioned in the line of sight, and free from any obstructions or clutter.
- Keep signs well-lighted. Observers should be able to read a sign easily and recognize its safety color. Lighting should also be sufficient to make any hazard clearly visible.
- Post the sign within an appropriate distance from the hazard it is pointing out. An observer must have enough time to see and read the sign and do whatever is necessary to keep safe.
- In general, signs should be displayed alone. When signs must be grouped together, place them in an appropriate order. Use no more than three symbols in the same location.
- Use no more than three symbols in the same location.
- Ensure that directional signs are visible from all directions. Include arrows on exit signs wherever the direction is not obvious. Directional signs should be posted at a consistent height throughout the workplace. They should also be posted at appropriate locations or decision points so that the route to take is always clear
- Using Easy to Read and Easy to Understand Signs
- Help employees and workplace visitors understand signs quickly by using clear language and symbols than can be learned and recognized easily.
- Keep symbols as simple as possible; eliminate details that don’t make the message clearer.
- Avoid using signs that contain only text messages.
- A combination of text and symbols is generally the most effective. Consider multilingual signs if you have employees who do not speak English.
| Latest Signs | ||
 Do not enter when light is on OSHA caution sign |
 Be proud of the job you do OSHA quality control sign |
 Do not enter test in progress OSHA danger sign |
 Employees only OSHA safety first sign |
 This water is unsafe to drink OSHA notice sign |
 Before you act OSHA think sign |
 No dogs except assistance dogsprohibition sign |
 warning you are entering an area where tobacco smoke may be presentwarning sign |
 High Visibility jacket must be worn mandatory sign |
| All the signs on Free Signage are in Adobe PDF format and as such you will need to havethe Adobe Reader software installed on your PC to print our signs.
The Adobe Reader software is free and can be found at www.adobe.com Need to make own signs click the clink http://www.online-sign.com/ Bringing you free to print pipe markers, labels, tape and duct markers http://www.pipemarker.co.uk/purple.php |
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Colours and symbols appropriately used can provide ever-present information and warnings of hazards which are essential to safety at work, and in some instances may be independent of language
The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 require employers to provide and maintain safety signs where there is significant risk to health and safety that has not been avoided or controlled by other means (e.g. safe systems of work) provided that the use of a sign can help reduce the risk. All workplaces and activities where people are employed are covered (with exceptions relating to the transport and supply & marketing of dangerous substances, products and equipment). They also require, where necessary, the use of road traffic signs in workplaces to regulate road traffic. Employers must also ensure that all employees receive appropriate information, instruction and training regarding safety signs. Although most signs are self-explanatory, some employees (particularly young or new workers) may be unfamiliar with the signs used.
SO WHAT IS A SAFETY SIGN?
A safety and/or health sign is ‘information or instruction about health and safety at work on a signboard, a colour, an illuminated sign or acoustic signal, a verbal communication or hand signal.’ These terms are all detailed in guidance to the regulations.
A signboard is a combination of shape, colour and symbol or pictogram made visible by adequate lighting and which may have supplementary text.
Signboards, including fire safety signs, are designed as follows:-
| Colour | Meaning or Purpose | Instruction & Information | Intrinsic Features | Example |
| RED | Prohibition/Danger alarm | Dangerous behaviour; stop; shutdown; emergency cut-out devices; evacuate | Round shape; black pictogram on white background; red edging and diagonal line; red part to be at least 35% of the area of the sign |  |
| YELLOW or AMBER | Warning | Be careful; take precautions; examine | Triangular shape; black pictogram on yellow background with black edging; yellow part to be at least 50% of the area of the sign |  |
| BLUE | Mandatory | Specific behaviour or action e.g. wear personal protective equipment | Round shape; white pictogram on blue background; blue part to be at least 50% of the area of the sign |  |
| GREEN | Emergency escape; first aid. No danger | Doors; exits; escape routes equipment and facilities Return to normal | Rectangular or square shape; white pictogram on green background; green part to be at least 50% of the area of the sign |  |
| RED (fire-fighting signs) | Fire fighting equipment | Identification & location | Rectangular or square shape; white pictogram on red background; red part to be at least 50% of the area of the sign |  |
Where the marking of dangerous locations is deemed necessary (e.g. highlighting the edge of a raised platform or area or restricted heights) yellow & black or red & white stripes may be used.
Traffic routes should take the form of continuous lines, preferably yellow or white.
Advice on fire safety signs can be obtained from your local fire authority. In general, where signs comply with the appropriate current standard (ISO 7010) they will not require changes for the Regulations.
EFFECT ON EMPLOYERS-SAFETY SYMBOLS
Most firms already use safety signs to warn and instruct employees of risks to their health and safety. The signboards specified in the Regulations are already covered by the existing British Standard BS5378 and ISO 7010, replacing BS 5499 ‘Graphical Symbols and Signs’. Equally, the law already requires suitable illuminated signs and acoustic signals to be used where necessary. Although the regulations specify a code of hand signals for mechanical handling and directing vehicles, they permit other signals to be used where necessary e.g. BS7121 Code of Practice for the safe use of cranes.
ISO 7010 has now been implemented
Large elements of the British Standard BS5499 symbols have now been changed. The new symbols based on the international standard ISO 7010 have been introduced. The basic principles of understanding safety symbols have remained the same i.e. colour and shape of out line symbol but some of the icons/symbols have changed.
What does it cover?
It aims to bring about consistency in safety signage internationally, though it recognizes that only the national standards organizations of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are obliged to adopt it.
The date for adoption was January 2013, when it became a European Normative. Therefore, at that time, it replaced BS5499-5, the previous British Standard.
Is it the law?
No. British Standards are not law. They are Codes of Practice, generally affecting only new products, as opposed to those previously produced. However, it is possible for standards to be given a type of legal status when they are referred to within legislation or government-issued guidance and Approved Codes of Practice.
In this case, the relevant legislation is the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations of 1996, also known as the Safety Signs Regulations. These regulations implemented EC Directive 92/58/EEC. They have not been updated, and there’s no apparent plan to change them just yet to incorporate BS EN ISO 7010. Therefore, even though some sales literature implies that all your safety signs (including fire escape signs) must be replaced, that simply isn’t the case.
What do they look like?
Before 1996, the standard for fire escape and other safety signs was set out in BS5499. Signs looked like this, for example.
Those who are longer in the tooth will recall the fuss when we had to add the running man to our signs. Then the Safety Signs Regulations brought a new style of fire escape sign — the one with the ice-cream box.
The guidance on these regulations published in 2009 (still the most current version) stated that businesses could continue to use the BS5499-5 fire escape signage if they preferred. Luckily for many of us, BS5499-5, our old and trusted standard for fire escape signs, was used as the basis for BS EN ISO 7010. If you didn’t put up the European standard signs when they became available after 1996, your building is now back in fashion.
What should building managers do?
There’s no requirement to replace signs, and it’s highly unlikely that any such requirement will ever be introduced. It’s best not to mix sign types; the guidance recommends consistency in style and design throughout a building (e.g., BS9999:2008). However, this is only a recommendation, so it isn’t illegal to mix sign types.
Nevertheless, consistency will be much more important in public buildings. On that basis, if you’re adding a few signs to a building that consistently follows EC Directive 92/58/EEC, it’s worth seeking out matching signs, at least for the time being, even though they’re not designed to the latest standard. If you’re starting from scratch with a new building, go with the new standard. And if your situation is somewhere between those two, do what seems most logical.
At least, the fire escape and fire fighting equipment signs all use very familiar symbols. If you start using them, you shouldn’t need to retrain staff. (The same can’t be said for all the general safety signs under BS EN ISO 7010.)