Signs are cheap, which is why buildings end up with too many of the wrong ones and none of the right ones. The Order requires emergency routes and exits to be indicated by signs where necessary, and the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 govern what those signs look like, so that they mean the same thing in every building and to people who do not read English.
The four families and their colours
Green with a white pictogram: safe condition, which is exits, escape routes, first aid and assembly points. Red with a white pictogram: fire equipment, and also prohibition signs with a red circle and diagonal bar. Blue circle with white: mandatory, meaning you must do this. Yellow triangle with black: warning. A building's fire signage is mostly the first two, and mixing the colours up is the quickest way to make a sign nobody reads correctly.
Where exit signs go
Wherever the way out is not obvious, at every change of direction, and visible from the length of the space they serve. The pictogram with the running figure and the directional arrow is the standard, and the arrow has to point at the route that actually exists rather than the one on the original drawing. Signs are illuminated or photoluminescent where the lighting could fail, which is why they are specified alongside the emergency lighting rather than separately.
Equipment signs, and why they matter more than they look
A red sign above an extinguisher tells somebody where it is when they are looking along a corridor at head height rather than down at the floor. The same goes for call points, hose reels, dry riser inlets and fire service switches. The sign is not decoration; it is what makes the equipment findable in the thirty seconds when it is useful.
The fire action notice
The instruction sheet by the call point: what to do on discovering a fire, what to do on hearing the alarm, where the assembly point is, and whether the building evacuates fully or in phases. It is the one sign that carries information specific to your building, which is also why so many of them still name an assembly point that moved three years ago.
Signs that do more harm than good
An exit sign over a locked door. A sign pointing to a route that is now a store cupboard. A fire action notice with the wrong evacuation strategy. In each case the sign is worse than nothing, because people trust signs under stress. Checking them is part of the routine inspection, not part of the annual assessment.
Questions people ask about fire safety signs
Are fire exit signs a legal requirement?
Article 14 of the Order requires emergency routes and exits to be indicated by signs where necessary, and the Safety Signs and Signals Regulations 1996 govern their form.
What colour are fire safety signs?
Green for safe condition such as exits and assembly points, red for fire equipment and for prohibition, blue for mandatory instructions and yellow for warnings.
What goes on a fire action notice?
What to do on discovering a fire and on hearing the alarm, the assembly point, and the evacuation strategy for that building.
Do exit signs need to be illuminated?
Where the escape route needs illumination in a power failure, the signs need to be visible then too, which is achieved with illuminated or photoluminescent signs alongside the emergency lighting.