Sign up for safety
April 1st 2004

Standards, EEC directives and other Health and Safety and Building Regulations relating to safety signage are numerous, comprehensive and complex. They have evolved over the last couple of decades in an effort to ensure that warnings and instructions relating to hazards are as recognisable as possible by all groups of people. It is of course the health and safety officers responsibility to ensure the laws and guidelines are adhered to and that there are warning signs relating to every major hazard present in the building or facility for which he or she is responsible.

Numerous European and UK based committees, authorities and other organisations have contributed to the drafting of the current relevant standards and the decisions made over content, meaning, colour, size and positioning for each type of safety sign. As a general guide to a health and safety officer who, in the hands of a reputable fire equipment supplier need not study every piece of legislation relating to signage, here are some of the most important rules.

Firstly, under British Standard 5499, all fire and safety signage must now include the correct pictorial symbol - for example, a Fire Point sign must include the new firemans helmet symbol alongside the words Fire Point. Fire escape routes and the location of all fire fighting equipment must be clearly identified. Wall mounted fire escape route signs must be placed no lower than 1.7 and no higher than 2.0 metres from the ground. Probably most importantly, all employees must be made aware of all signs in the workplace and understand what they mean.

Its particularly important to use consistent graphical images to avoid confusion when people are escaping under stressful conditions. BS 5499 provides guidance on the selection and use of fire escape route signs. It recommends the use of the internationally agreed graphical symbol for fire escape route (green man running through white doorway which was created after in-depth testing of the comprehensibility of a large number of exit signs in many countries. It also recommends the use of supplementary text and is quite specific on the use of directional arrows. Every fire escape sign along the route should incorporate or be accompanied by a directional arrow that indicates the direction of travel leading to the place of safety. Arrows should not be used alone and should always be correctly orientated. They should be used at each change of level or direction. A supplementary text sign reading Fire Exit should be used with the fire escape route sign to indicate specified doorways leading to the place of safety. Signs indicating how to operate fire exit doors (eg Push bar to open) should also be installed where appropriate. Once the fire escape route reaches the outside of the building, there may still be a need to continue signage to the place of safety which should be identified by the internationally approved symbol for an evacuation assembly point.

A sensible approach for a health and safety professional is to employ the services of a specialist company that understands the statutory requirements for fire and safety signage and the recommendations for best practice and how they should be implemented in various building types. This is where members of the British Fire Consortium can help. Member companies, specialise in the installation and maintenance of fire safety equipment as well as the installation of all types of safety signage. A responsible company will begin by carefully surveying the premises and taking into the account the requirements for each of the six classes of safety sign which include prohibition, warning, mandatory, safe condition and fire equipment signs.

Adequate lighting is required under BS 5499 to ensure fire escape route signs remain legible and conspicuous in both normal and mains failure conditions. Some surveys will recommend the use of photoluminescent versions of signs that require a minimum of 100 lux of ambient light to charge their photoluminescent properties. Depending upon the type of premises a specialist may also stipulate the use of emergency lighting or internally illuminated signs to ensure their visibility is adequate. Where these are specified, they should meet BS 5266.

A comprehensive survey will ensure that all fire fighting equipment is clearly identified with permanent signs placed by each piece of equipment. The relationship between size of text in a sign and the viewing distance is another factor that will be taken into account. Obstacles likely to impede escape (such as steps, pillars etc) must also be clearly marked with warning stripes of the appropriate style and colour. Trip hazards, pipework and risks from storage or use of hazardous chemicals will all be picked up too with the appropriate class of sign recommended. One of the most important safety signs is that which forbids the use of a lift in case of fire, and these should be installed at each lift door immediately above the lift call button. (This does not apply to lifts specifically fitted for the evacuation of disabled people.)

Safety signage is not as confusing a subject as the amount of legislation surrounding it indicates. Common sense and a methodical risk assessment or survey by a specialist will ensure all premises can be signed effectively.