Fire exit signs: which way the arrow points, and where each sign goes

A fire exit sign has one job: get someone who has never been in your building from wherever they are standing to the outside, in smoke, in a hurry. In the UK that means green and white signs with the running man, an arrow that points the way, and a chain of signs with no gaps from the furthest corner to the final exit door. This guide covers what the law asks for, how the arrows work, where the signs go and the mistakes we see most. It is general guidance; your fire risk assessment has the final say on what your building needs.

What the law actually asks for #

In England and Wales the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 14, says emergency routes and exits must be indicated by signs. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety laws that say much the same. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 then set the format: a safe condition sign is a green rectangle or square with a white symbol, and an escape sign must include a pictogram, not just the words “Fire exit”.

The law does not give you a list of sign positions. It expects you to look at the building, decide the escape routes in your fire risk assessment, and sign them so they can be followed. The GOV.UK workplace fire safety page explains who the “responsible person” is and what they have to do.

The running man and the arrow #

Modern UK exit signs use the ISO 7010 symbols: E001 (emergency exit, left hand) and E002 (emergency exit, right hand), a running figure heading through a doorway, paired with a direction arrow. Two simple rules keep them readable:

• The figure runs the way the arrow points. A man running left beside an arrow pointing right sends a mixed message at the worst possible moment.
• The arrow shows the next move, not the final door. Arrow up means carry straight on. Arrow left or right means turn. Diagonal arrows pointing down mean go down to the left or right, which is how you sign a staircase going down.

You will also see older formats in buildings that have not been resigned for years, including the HTM 65 style common in hospitals, where an arrow pointing down above a door means “through here”. Neither style is wrong on its own. Mixing them along one route is the problem, because the same arrow can then mean two different things. When you replace signs, do a whole route, or better, the whole building, in one style.

Where fire exit signs go #

Walk the route from the furthest point of each room to the outside and ask, at every spot where you could go two ways: would a stranger know which way to go from here? If not, that spot needs a sign. The usual places are:

• Above every final exit door, with a plain “Fire exit” sign and symbol, no arrow needed when the door itself is the exit.
• At every change of direction on the route, including corners, junctions and the top and bottom of each stair flight.
• Where the exit cannot be seen from inside a room, so the first sign shows people which door to leave by.
• Along long corridors, so that from any point at least one sign is in view.

Mount them high enough to clear heads, doors and stacked stock, usually above head height, and make sure nothing hangs in front of them: posters, bunting, shelving, open doors. A sign you can only read from one angle is half a sign.

Lit, glow-in-the-dark or plain? #

If your building has, or needs, emergency lighting, the escape signs need to be visible when the mains power goes, either by being lit from inside or by being lit by the emergency lighting. Plain printed signs are fine where the routes have natural light or emergency lighting falls on them. Your fire risk assessment and the emergency lighting design decide this, and the person testing your lighting will check it. Our guide to emergency lighting tests covers the monthly and yearly checks.

Sizes and viewing distance #

A sign has to be big enough to read from the furthest point it is meant to be seen from. A narrow 297 × 100 mm sign suits a short corridor or a door head; a long warehouse aisle needs something much larger. Our guide to sign letter height and viewing distance has the sums. For building sites and large yards, a printed site banner can be read from far further away than a rigid sign.

Common mistakes #

• A sign above a door that is locked, blocked or no longer used as an exit. That is worse than no sign.
• Arrows that point at a wall because the room was rearranged after the signs went up.
• A “Fire exit” sign on a fire door that is not an exit. Fire doors that hold back fire and smoke get their own blue signs, explained in our fire door signs guide.
• Two styles of arrow on the same route.
• Faded green that has gone pale blue in a sunny stairwell. Replace it; colour is part of the message.

Fire exit signs we print #

• Running man and arrow signs in every direction, for example right with arrow up, diagonal left down and arrow down, in 297 × 100 mm, 420 × 150 mm and 594 × 200 mm.
• Delayed egress emergency exit signs for doors with a timed release.
• Fire exit keep clear site banners and fire exit left site banners for yards and sites.
• The rest of the fire safety signs range, including fire assembly point signs.

For what the colours and shapes mean across all safety signs, see the safety sign colours and shapes guide.

Questions people ask #