ISO 7010, published by the International Organization for Standardization in October 2003, is a technical standard for graphical hazard symbols on hazard and safety signs, including those indicating emergency exits. It uses colors and design principles from ISO 3864 to convey safety information with minimal reliance on words. The standard merged earlier guidelines from ISO 3864:1984 and ISO 6309:1987 to create a unique system for safety symbols. The latest version, ISO 7010:2019, with nine amendments, also replaced ISO 20712-1:2008, incorporating water safety signs and beach safety flags to enhance public safety communication.
Shape and colour
ISO 7010 specifies five combinations of shape and colour to distinguish between the type of information presented.6
Shape and colour of sign types| Sign type7 | Meaning | Colour (per ISO 3864-4)8 | Shape9 | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prohibition sign | Must not do | Red | Circle with diagonal line | No open flame |
| Mandatory sign | Must do | Blue | Circle | Use hearing protection |
| Warning sign | Warn of hazard | Yellow | Equilateral triangle with rounded corners | Explosive materials |
| Safe condition sign | Identifying of safety equipment and exits | Green | Square or rectangular | Emergency assembly point |
| Fire safety sign | Identifying of firefighting equipment | Red | Square | Fire extinguisher |
List
ISO registers and lists recommended pictograms, which it calls "safety signs", on its website, ISO.org. The ISO standard provides a registered number for pictograms that have officially been made part of the ISO 7010 standard. Corresponding with the categories above, in ISO parlance, "E" numbers refer to Emergency (signs showing a safe condition), "F" numbers refer to Fire protection, "P" numbers refer to Prohibited actions, "M" numbers refer to Mandatory actions, and "W" numbers refer to Warnings of hazards.10
According to the related ISO 3864-1 standard, if a symbol does not exist for a situation, the recommended solution is to use the relevant 'general' symbol (M001, P001, W001), along with a supplemental text message.11
Safe condition
Crescent variant
ISO 7010 states on all symbols with a first aid cross, that it "may be replaced with another element appropriate to cultural requirements". In countries with a Muslim-majority population, an appropriate symbol is the crescent.
Fire protection
Mandatory
Prohibition
Warning
Withdrawn symbols
The following symbols were previously part of ISO 7010, but have since been withdrawn from the standard; arrow type D in ISO standard 3864-3 are to be used in their stead.
Symbols from regional variations of ISO 7010
France
Netherlands
See also
- Hazard symbol
- ISO 3864 – Safety colors and safety signs
- ISO 7001 – Public Information Symbols
- ISO 21482 – A separate standard for a specific radiation safety sign for specific applications
- Pipe marking § ISO 20560-1 & -2 Safety information for piping systems
- ANSI Z535 – The United States national standard for safety information
- Directive 92/58/EEC – Safety signs used in the European Union
- GHS hazard pictograms – Symbols used by the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to ISO 7010 safety signs.References
"ISO 7010:2011 — Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Registered safety signs". ISO Online Browsing Platform (OBP). International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 14 July 2018. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:7010:ed-2:v1:en ↩
International Organization for Standardization. "ISO 3864:1984". iso.org. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022. /wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization ↩
International Organization for Standardization. "ISO 6309:1987". iso.org. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022. /wiki/International_Organization_for_Standardization ↩
"ISO 7010:2019". ISO. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2023. https://www.iso.org/cms/render/live/en/sites/isoorg/contents/data/standard/07/24/72424.html ↩
Online Browsing Platform (OBP)ISO Archived 17 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:7010:ed-3:v1:en ↩
"ISO 7010 Safety Signs Guide Book" (PDF). Brady Corporation. 12 January 2017. https://d37iyw84027v1q.cloudfront.net/Common/ISO7010_Safetysigns_Guidebook_Europe_English.pdf ↩
"ISO 7010:2011 — Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Registered safety signs". ISO Online Browsing Platform (OBP). International Organization for Standardization. Retrieved 14 July 2018. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:7010:ed-2:v1:en ↩
"ISO 3864-4:2011". International Organization for Standardization. March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2018. https://www.iso.org/standard/51000.html ↩
"ISO 3864-4:2011". International Organization for Standardization. March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2018. https://www.iso.org/standard/51000.html ↩
"ISO Online Browsing Platform". ISO Online Browsing Platform. International Standards Organization. Retrieved 15 May 2021. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#search ↩
""ISO 3864-2:2016 Standard". Retrieved 1 July 2021. https://standards.iteh.ai/catalog/standards/sist/f6308c84-29e0-4917-bce2-bbef29dd8d07/sist-iso-3864-2-2017 ↩