Safety sign meanings: read any sign by its colour, shape and ISO 7010 code

Safety sign meanings are built so you can grasp them before you read a single word. Colour gives the message: red means stop (or points to fire equipment), yellow means watch out, blue means you must, green means this way to safety. Shape then tells you what kind of sign it is. Get both right and a visitor who speaks no English still knows what to do. Below: the code, the law behind it, the ISO 7010 numbering, and how big your sign needs to be.

Colour first: the four messages #

In Great Britain, the colours are fixed by the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Each colour carries one idea:

• Red: prohibition and danger (do not), and also the location of fire fighting equipment.
• Yellow or amber: warning. A hazard is present, so take care.
• Blue: mandatory. This is something you have to do.
• Green: safe condition. Escape routes, exits and first aid.

Stick to these. A handmade sign in the wrong colour can send people the wrong way at the exact moment they need to act fast, which is the opposite of what a sign is for.

Shape second: safety sign meanings by type #

Combine the colour with a shape and you get five sign types. This is the table worth pinning up in the office.

Sign type	What it looks like	What it tells you	For example
Prohibition	Red ring with a diagonal bar; black symbol on white	Do not do this	No smoking
Mandatory	Solid blue circle; white symbol	You must do this	Safety helmets must be worn
Warning	Yellow triangle, black border, black symbol	Hazard ahead, take care	Caution fork lift trucks
Safe condition	Green square or rectangle; white symbol	Route to safety or first aid	Fire exit and escape route signs
Fire equipment	Red square or rectangle; white symbol	Fire fighting kit is here	Fire alarm call point

Words-only notices borrow the same colours so people read them the right way. White text on blue lands as an instruction; black text on yellow lands as a warning. Black and yellow stripes, meanwhile, mark physical hazards such as edges and obstacles.

Do I actually have to put signs up? #

Under the 1996 Regulations, an employer has to put signs up where some risk remains after every other sensible control has been tried. Signs are the last layer, not a replacement for guards, procedures or training: they warn about the risk that is left over. Which signs, and where, falls out of your risk assessment. The Health and Safety Executive covers all of this in its free guidance, L64, Safety signs and signals.

Fire has its own rule. Article 14 of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 says emergency routes and exits must be indicated by signs, and your fire risk assessment decides where exit and equipment signs belong. For a plain-English version, see the GOV.UK page on workplace fire safety responsibilities.

ISO 7010: the code on the symbol #

ISO 7010 is the international standard for registered safety symbols. Each symbol gets a letter and a number. The letter gives the type:

• E for safe condition (always on green)
• F for fire equipment (always on red)
• M for mandatory (always in a blue circle)
• P for prohibition (always in the red prohibition ring)
• W for warning (always in a yellow triangle)

The number identifies the exact symbol. W014 is the forklift truck warning, and M014 is the instruction to wear a safety helmet. So the code is a handy cross-check: if you see a W symbol anywhere other than a yellow triangle, something has gone wrong. Where one of our signs uses an ISO 7010 symbol, its code sits on the product page so you can match it to your risk assessment. Where a message has no matching registered symbol, we make it as a clear text sign rather than force in a symbol that does not fit.

Adding words under the symbol #

A symbol can carry a line of supporting text, such as “Caution fork lift trucks” under the forklift triangle. The words go on a separate panel or beneath the symbol, and they should repeat the meaning, never add a second, different message. Text helps the visitor who has never met that symbol; the symbol helps the reader who struggles with English. Together they cover both.

How big should the sign be? #

A sign that cannot be read from where people stand is decoration. Our conservative rule, drawn from the distance-factor method in ISO 3864-1, is 1 metre of viewing distance per 25 mm of the sign’s shorter side. In practice:

• A4 (210 × 297 mm) works up to about 8 m away.
• A3 (297 × 420 mm) stretches that to about 12 m.
• A2 (420 × 594 mm) is good for roughly 17 m.
• A1 (594 × 841 mm) reaches about 24 m.

Each safety sign page lists this for the sizes that sign is sold in. Go one size bigger in dim light, or where people are moving fast, like forklift routes and car parks.

Putting safety sign meanings where people will see them #

• Mount at eye level where you can, and before the hazard, not beside it.
• Skip doors that usually stand open; the sign ends up facing the wall.
• Do not crowd them. A cluster of ten signs gets ignored as a single blur.
• Light them, or size up where lighting is poor.

Walk round every so often. Faded colours, cracked boards and signs for hazards that have gone should be replaced or taken down.

Which board to print on #

Indoors, 3 mm Foamex or self-adhesive vinyl usually does it. For outdoor or long-term signs, 3 mm Dibond aluminium composite holds up. Temporary site signs suit Correx, which is light and weatherproof. The board comparison guide goes through the trade-offs.

Where to find the right sign #

Shop by the colour you worked out above: green exits and red equipment live under fire signs, yellow triangles under warnings, red rings under prohibitions and blue circles under mandatory instructions. Running a building job? Start with the site sign range, or put eight messages on one combined board at the gate.

Signs are made to order and dispatched from the UK, and a person checks every uploaded file free of charge. UK mainland delivery is £7.95, free on orders of £100 or more after discounts; see delivery for other areas.

Quick answers #

Is a fire exit sign red or green?

Green. It is a safe condition sign, with a white running figure. Red is kept for fire equipment, such as extinguisher and call point signs.

Can I write my own wording?

Yes, any wording you need. Just keep to the standard colour and shape for that kind of message, and use an ISO 7010 symbol where one exists, so the sign means the same thing to everyone.

What do safety sign meanings look like in black and yellow?

A yellow triangle with a black border and black symbol is a warning. Black and yellow diagonal stripes mark a physical hazard, such as a step edge or an obstruction.

Cannot find the sign you need? #

Send us the wording, size and location through the contact form or ask for a quote, and we will price it in the right colours and shape for the message.