The ISO 7010 is an international standard which represents registered safety symbols.
ISO 7010 Graphic Symbols – Safety Colours and Safety Signs – Registered Safety Signs
The safety signs listed in the ISO 7010 provide information transfer for accident prevention, fire safety, health hazards and emergency evacuation through standardized symbols. Each safety sign has a unique number and category designation.
The ISO 7010 has the following categories:
E Signs indicating the escape route, location of rescue equipment or installations or a safety action.
F Fire-fighting equipment signs
M Mandatory actions signs
P Prohibition signs
W Warning signs
The shapes, design guidelines, use of color, etc. are described in the ISO 3864-1, Graphic Symbols – Safety Colours and Safety Signs – Part 1: Design principles for safety signs and safety markings. This standard is the basis of every registered safety sign in the ISO 7010.
The word symbols is also often used in place of signs, so ‘safety symbols’ instead of ‘safety signs’.
Just as we are familiar with road signs that provide instructions to promote road safety, safety symbols have a similar role and significance in the safety of people in the workplace and in public environments. Safety signs quickly convey a message. A lack of standardization will result in a reduced recognition value, which can lead to mistakes and a risk of accidents. The ISO 7010 is primarily there to protect people, through targeted information and instructions by recognizable, uniform symbols.
From employers to building managers, product manufacturers to retailers, wherever there are risks and related instructions to prevent accidents and injuries, ISO 7010 is the standard for the use of understandable safety signs.
“The safety signs are intended for use only where there is a risk to people. They may appear in safety signage in workplaces and public areas, safety manuals and notices, product labelling and escape and evacuation plans, as appropriate” – ISO 7010
The ISO 7010 means for you the possibility to realize a safety information system (ISO/TS 202259) with internationally standardized safety symbols. In practice, many buildings and installations have a motley collection of safety symbols and safety signs. As additions have been made over the years with signs of different origins, proprietary designs, customization, well-intentioned but sometimes contradictory and different styles of signage arise. For example, an emergency exit may be marked in four different ways.
Manual fire alarms are sometimes only partially marked. When it is clear which safety signs are used for what, it is easier to realize, expand and maintain this structurally. The ISO 7010 covers the need for globally harmonized legislation for safety signs. In Europe, for example, there are already the EU 92/58 and the EU 89/654/EEC that require safety signs, even specifically for marking all fire-fighting equipment and installations. The ISO 7010 means clarity for you and the users of your site, uniform imagery to prevent accidents and increase safety.
The ISO 7010 and Blomsma Signs & Safety have a long history. During the development we participated in the ISO 7010 working group as a member of the graphic symbols committee (ISO TC 145). We have provided technical, safety, graphic and especially practical input for this. Situations with our clients from various markets and daily (information) needs have, among other things, led to a series of new standardized symbols. In addition to the role as an involved member and technical expert of this standards committee, we also played a role in harmonizing and integrating with the maritime standard for safety symbols, the ISO 24409. Proposals for new safety symbols are submitted from all participating countries, worldwide, on a regular basis.
Getting started with ISO 7010? Where and how to start? The ISO 7010 is the standard that represents the standardized symbols. The standard does not provide frameworks and principles for safety signs. For this, the legal framework should be consulted, along with risk assessments. The start for applying the ISO 7010 begins policy-wise, providing adequate safety signage. Depending on the complexity of the building, installation or environment, the prior preparation of a signage plan (according to ISO/TS 20559) and/or a GAP study is the basis for the implementation process. In new construction projects it is sufficient to include the standard in the scope of specifications and work packages.
Blomsma Signs & Safety provides for the drawing up of signage plans and the realization of safety signs in which the applicable standards (ISO 7010 and ISO 3864) are automatically applied. With the combination of our knowledge of the standard, our vision on pragmatic visual communication, dedicated engineers, trained Safety Sign Installers and material knowledge of sign applications we relieve our clients. We help to provide simple and complex installations with the required markings, durable, visible and professional.
The ISO 7010 is available at:
ISO : https://www.iso.org/standard/72424.html
Beuth : https://www.beuth.de/en/standard/din-en-iso-7010/321850525
NEN : https://www.nen.nl/nen-en-iso-7010-2020-cor-2020-08-en-274471
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