26
HEALTH & SAFETY
SIGN OF THE TIMES
Correct safety signing in premises and public buildings is of the utmost importance and with EN 7010
on the horizon, there has never been a better time to audit and review your premises. Georgie Knight
talks us through the background of safety signing and what the proposed new EC Directive could mean
for Health and Safety managers
In the late seventies it was being recognised that
as the idea of a European Community was
becoming ever more a realised dream, so too
would come with it the problem of a large
multicultural migratory workforce – communication.
The danger to foreign worker safety, not to mention
those with reading difficulties, disabilities and poor
eye sight, of using text based safety instruction was
unacceptable. What was decided was that a method
of instruction, free of a dependency on language and
understood by all, was needed.
The natural solution was to use and develop
pictograms as a language in safety, comprising its
own vocabulary and grammar expressed through the
design, colour and shape of the sign. This would
come in the form of the first International Standard
for Health & Safety signs in 1984, ISO 3864 –
Safety Colours and Safety Signs. Signs were broken
down into the types of information they conveyed
and colour coded accordingly. The colours
themselves were related to the type of instruction
being given by the sign, such as the attention
grabbing, stark contrasting, yellow and black signs
purveying immediate hazards.
With an International Standard in place, the first step
to standardisation had begun. Signs had been given
meaning they never had before simply through
design and colour. It was hoped that manufacturers
would adopt this standardised method of sign
design and colouring as the requirements of
ISO 3864:1984 had no grounding in law. Some
manufacturers, especially those pivotal in the
formulation of ISO 3864:1984, were eager
to produce the newly-designed signs and lead the
industry in a drive towards international
standardisation. Unfortunately the realities of
business and production methods meant that many
manufacturers were slow to change, if inclined even
to do so at all, resulting in standardised and nonstandardised
signs alike by the Safety Sign Industry.
In order to resolve the matter and to promote greater
safety for EU community members, an EC directive
based on the guidance of ISO 3864:1984 was
passed which would make it a requirement for every
EU member state to write the Directive’s requirements
into their country’s Health & Safety Legislation. This
was EC directive 92/58/EEC, the contents of
which were also required to be written into the
Health & Safety laws of England. This occurred in the
form of the Health &
Safety (Signs and Signals)
Regulations 1996.
The regulations made it a
legal requirement for
standardised design and
colour pictogram-based
safety signs to be used at
all premises.
This achievement in safety
signing was not without its drawbacks, however. The
concern had been to move away from using text
based instruction and to move towards intuitive
pictograms but what was later realised, was that the
move to pictograms had introduced an element of
ambiguity into safety signs. People followed
regulations using the specified colours and designs
but were free to choose the pictogram they felt best
depicted the signs message. From workplace to
workplace, indeed country to country, you could find
different versions of the exit sign.
Over the years, and as a result, ISO 7010 has been
proposed and is very likely to be fast tracked to
become EN 7010. This means that it will be a
‘European Normative’, a requirement of which is that
its best practice guidance is required by EU law to be
adopted without change by all member states.
The purpose of ISO 7010 is that it “...prescribes
safety signs for the purposes of accident prevention,
fire protection, health hazard information and
emergency evacuation.” Since its introduction in
2004, ISO 7010 has sought to harmonise the
graphical symbols used in safety signage
internationally, thus ensuring foreign nationals are
likely to be familiar with the safety information
symbols used and will understand their instruction in
times of emergency.
The standard is applicable to all premises types,
especially public areas and workplaces. Any
premises, where there is a requirement for safety
signs to convey safety information, can benefit from
the standard.
So what will it bring? For Health & Safety managers
across Europe finally it will allow the use of a
common platform of language in Safety Signs,
normalised throughout Europe and regarded as best
practice across the globe. The task of Safety Signing,
Top left: A traditional European fire safety exit
sign; Above: The standardised ISO 7010
version of the fire exit sign
considered to ‘Locate, Identify, Inform, Instruct &
Educate’, can now be accomplished in a way never
before possible. We are able to locate signs relevant
to our current needs as we are able to identify
them using the intuitively understood colour coded
grammar of signs. Through a standardised,
unambiguous set of pictograms, signs can inform us
of important information relevant to our safety and
instruct us when necessary to keep us safe, without
relying on text instruction. In every sense of the word,
signs can educate on safe condition locations, fire
safety measures, mandatory actions, prohibited
actions and warn us of danger.
As from October last year, the status of the standard
changed to signify its periodic review. During this
time comments regarding its usefulness and
suggestions for improvement were open to
submission, which resulted in revision and content
addition. The likely outcome of the review now is that
the International Standard will become a European
Normative, taking it from being a 3rd party guide on
best practice to being required to be written into
every European Country’s Health & Safety laws.
Such an event will have huge implications for
premises across EU countries as it will essentially
become illegal to use non-standardised signs.
Workplaces, event venues, eateries, shopping
centres and many others will be required to replace
all non-standardised signs. Those responsible for fire
safety in a premises and the fire safety industry as a
whole, should use this situation to consider the further
implications of correct signage.
Georgie Knight is marketing manager at
Means of Escape Publications.
Enquire about Means of Escape 052
PSB May 2009 – www.psbmag.co.uk
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