According to the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, permanent signboards must be used for signs relating to prohibitions, warnings and mandatory requirements and the location and identification of emergency escape routes and first-aid facilities. Safety signs must follow a specific shape and colour code to mark the location and identification of fire fighting equipment.

These regulations came into force on April 1, 1996, and they pertain to all places and activities where people are employed and call for employers to provide specific safety signage whenever there is a risk that has not been avoided or controlled by other means. The fire safety regulations state that:

• Employers must use safety signs wherever there is a risk to health and safety that cannot be controlled by other means.
• Safety signs must be of a specific type.
• Text signs are no longer adequate; all signs must include a pictogram.
• Signs must be well maintained and sufficiently lit.
• Employers must make sure that employees understand the signs.

The installation of safety signs is part of an employer’s responsibility under the law to ensure, so far as is possible, their employees’ and the general public’s health, safety and welfare at work. There are a number of styles for safety signs. Blue circles are called “mandatory” signs. Yellow triangles are called “caution” signs. Red signs are called “fire safety” signs. They are used only for showing the location of fire extinguishers and other fire safety equipment.

Green signs are called “safe condition” signs. These signs can either tell people the location of certain safety equipment, such as first aid equipment and fire exits, or tell people that it is safe to do something in case of an emergency. Red circles with a diagonal line through a pictogram are called “prohibition” signs. You must not do whatever is shown on the sign. The fact that these signs have circles on them means that the instructions they contain must be followed.

Other signs may be used to point to toilets, et cetera. These can be any format you wish, but you must not be able to confuse them with safety signs. Note that a lot of safety signs do not require text. Symbols are used instead to give a multi-lingual sign. Use a blue mandatory sign for doors that need to be kept shut for fire safety reasons, for example those doors that are designed to hold back fire and smoke.

You can add any other signs that you think you need depending on your circumstances. Certainly the best option for places of work is to use rigid plastic signs fixed with self-adhesive pads or screws. You might also need to display some posters that give people information about safety. Regardless of the language your employees and customers speak, all signs must be quickly understood.

The Health and Safety Regulations 1996 require employers to provide specific safety signs whenever there is a risk that has not been avoided or controlled by other means, for example by engineering controls or safe systems of work. Apart from fire exit signs, you must have signs that show where your fire extinguishers are. Known as “photo-luminescent,” some signs are available in glow-in-the-dark finishes.

Keep in mind that a large number of safety signs and symbols can cause confusion as to what they mean – which is exactly what they set out to avoid. That’s why it’s best to stick to European standard signs, especially now when it’s essential to offer immediate understanding of safety messages worldwide, a job that the visual, language-independent power of the graphical symbol is the best to convey.

Fire exits need to lead as directly to a place of safety as possible and must be marked with exit signs. Buildings that have recently been refurbished or built will comply with the current building regulations and the number and size of the fire exits should be adequate in these situations. A typical single-width exit door will enable about 40 people per minute to evacuate, but this is only a guideline and more thorough calculations are needed that take into account any exit routes that might be blocked by smoke or flames.

It is always recommended that more than one exit is available so there is always another way out if the main entrance is blocked by fire. Ideally the two exit routes would go in opposite directions, but at the least they should be positioned so that they are far enough apart so that a fire blocking one of the doors will not block the other. For the final exit door from the building, it would be usual to use panic locks (of the “push bar to open” kind).

There are rules about what you cannot have in fire exit areas because they might hamper evacuation. The list includes:

• Portable heating equipment (including electric heaters) or heating equipment that uses naked flames.
• Cooking equipment (including tea urns and kettles)
• Bins and rubbish bags.
• Notice boards (unless small and the notices are kept firmly pinned onto the board).
• It might be acceptable to have a coat rack in the escape route as long as it does not reduce the width of the exit significantly. Fire retardant furniture might be acceptable, again providing that there is no reduction in the escape route (note that furniture might be moved around and could block an exit route).

Frequently check to make sure that the outside of fire exits is free from obstacles and that there is a clear route away from the building to an assembly point. In many situations, emergency lighting might be necessary both inside the building and directly outside the final exit doors. Fire doors should be designed to withstand the effects of fire for a period of time – usually 30 minutes.

Fire Safety Checklist

• Are fuel-burning space heaters and appliances properly installed and used?
• Are all space heaters placed away from traffic?
• Do you dispose of smoking materials carefully and keep large, safe ashtrays wherever people smoke?
• Are gasoline and other flammable liquids stored in safety cans and away from heat and sparks?
• Is paint kept in tightly closed metal containers?
• Are there enough electrical outlets in every room and special circuits for heavy-duty appliances such as space heaters and air conditioners?
• Is your heating equipment checked every year by a serviceman?
• Do you know the location of the nearest fire alarm?
• Do you know the location of the two nearest exits from your work area? Can you find them in the dark?

In a fire, never assume that anyone else has called the fire brigade. Stay calm and give the dispatcher as much information as you know. Leave the building quickly, closing doors as you go to contain fire and smoke.

Protect Your Valuables

A fire in your business could be the most distressing calamity you will ever experience, if you don’t implement adequate safety and protection measures. People nowadays have come to understand that it is best to furnish their offices with protective devices such as fire exits and alarms. Adding a fireproof safe to protect your most valuable possessions, documents, and properties from fire is also very important.

You might be surprised to find that there are many fine distinctions that can have an effect on your decision if you have been charged with the job of buying new exit signs for your building. Before you buy weigh out the benefits of each sign. Consider factors such as electrician fees, maintenance time, replacement parts and electricity costs. If you take the time to select the right exit signs you can save money, day after day for years.

Exit signs are devices in public buildings that show the way out, and are mandated by the existing fire regulations to tell people where they must go to get out of their place of work in case of an emergency. All exit routes should be clearly marked using signs that comply with the current fire regulations. Most exit signs around the world feature the pictogram variety, with or without the text supplement.

The sign is usually permanently illuminated, since smoke or failure of electrical lighting may reduce visibility in a fire, usually by one of:

• Self-luminous ‘radioluminescence,’ which is induced by nuclear radiation, and does not require ambient light or electricity
• Photoluminescent phosphorescence, where light is absorbed from the surroundings and slowly re-emitted
• Electric light, with a local rechargeable power source
• Electric light, with the building’s emergency lighting circuits providing backup power from a UPS and/or generator in case normal power is lost

Fire exit route and final exit signs were initially text only and included an arrow for travel direction only when appropriate. The European Community later decided that there should be a sign or series of signs that should offer a common language of communication across the different states. It was decided that the graphical symbol or pictogram should be the main element of the sign design, enabling it to be understood independent of written or spoken language.

Modern exit signs do not need to have any words, although we suggest that you use suitable wording to help people understand what the sign means. There are two signs types currently allowed by UK fire regulations:

Style 1: British Standard, which shows the moving person going through a doorway.
Style 2: European Standard, which shows a separate moving person and a door symbol.

It is now a requirement in many countries that all new commercial buildings include well-marked emergency exits. Well-designed emergency exit signs are necessary for emergency exits to be effective. The European Standard sign is the one that is preferred and commonly available, but the British Standard can still be used in existing buildings.
All areas of your workplace need to have fire exit signs installed, especially areas that are used by the public.

Signs must not be too high and need to be clearly seen in the room. Glow-in-the-dark ‘photoluminescent’ signs might be worth considering if you do not have any emergency lighting installed. Signs may be propped over doors or fixed using small fixings that cannot be seen normally (such as small nails). You can remove them if need be, but they should be kept in place for as much of the time as possible, especially where the public uses the building.

In today’s world one of the hottest issues is how to move people in an urgent situation quickly and in safety to a secure refuge. It becomes easier to identify egress routes when exit signs are integrated with directional sounders and a fire alarm system in a building.

Early exit signs were usually made of metal and lit by a nearby incandescent light bulb or were glass covers that fit straight onto a single-bulb light fixture. Later on manufacturers began to use a dual power system as battery-powered options became smaller and more efficient. Modern exit signs can be seen over every path to an exit in commercial and large residential buildings that are properly up to fire code.