ISO 7010 safety signs: codes, colours and what European law requires

Updated: Andrzej Łukomski

ISO 7010 is the international standard for registered safety signs. It fixes the graphical symbols, safety colours and shapes used to warn people of a hazard, forbid an action, require an action, point to an escape route or mark fire-fighting equipment, so that the same pictogram carries the same meaning regardless of the language spoken on site. ISO states that the document prescribes safety signs “for the purposes of accident prevention, fire protection, health hazard information and emergency evacuation”. Each symbol has a permanent reference code, such as W001 or M003. Across Europe the standard is published by CEN as EN ISO 7010 and then by each national standards body, and it is not itself the law. The legal duty to display safety signs comes from Council Directive 92/58/EEC on the minimum requirements for the provision of safety and/or health signs at work, as transposed into each member state’s own legislation, and ISO 7010 supplies the artwork that satisfies that duty.

ISO 7010 - the international standard for registered safety signs.

ISO 7010, EN ISO 7010 and the national adoptions

These designations describe one set of symbols published at international, European and national level. The prefix tells you which body issued the copy in your hand, not which symbols it contains.

ISO 7010 is the original, the standard for graphical symbols on safety signs, issued by the International Organization for Standardization. The current international edition is ISO 7010:2019, the third edition, running to 298 pages and maintained by technical committee ISO/TC 145/SC 2.

EN ISO 7010 is the European adoption. CEN took ISO 7010:2019 and approved it as EN ISO 7010:2020 without any modification to the text or the symbols. The European foreword to that edition obliges the national standards bodies of the CEN member countries to give the European Standard the status of a national standard, either by publishing an identical text or by endorsement, and to withdraw any conflicting national standard. That single sentence is why a safety sign specified in one European country is readable and acceptable in another.

The national adoptions follow from it. PN-EN ISO 7010 is the Polish publication, DIN EN ISO 7010 the German, NF EN ISO 7010 the French, I.S. EN ISO 7010 the Irish, UNE-EN ISO 7010 the Spanish, and BS EN ISO 7010 the British. The prefix changes, the register of pictograms does not. A sign made to PN-EN ISO 7010 uses identical symbols to one made to DIN EN ISO 7010, which is why signage produced in Poland is accepted on German, French, Nordic and British sites without redrawing.

One practical consequence follows. A supplier quoting only “ISO 7010” is not saying anything different from one quoting “EN ISO 7010” or a national variant of it. What matters is the amendment level, because that determines which symbols are available in the set being supplied.

The five ISO 7010 categories, their codes and colours

ISO 7010 sorts every registered symbol into five families, each identified by a letter prefix in its reference code. The prefix is the fastest way to check that a sign is the right type before checking that it is the right message. The shape and colour combinations below are those laid down for signboards in Annex II, section 3 of Directive 92/58/EEC, and ISO 7010 follows the same scheme; ISO 7010 does not define the safety colours themselves, which come from ISO 3864-1.

Code prefixCategoryShapeColourVerified example
PProhibition: an action that must not be takenRoundBlack pictogram on white, red edging and diagonal bar; the red must cover at least 35% of the sign areaP001, General prohibition sign
WWarning: a hazard that people must be alert toTriangularBlack pictogram on yellow with black edging; the yellow must cover at least 50%W001, General warning sign
MMandatory action: something that must be done or wornRoundWhite pictogram on blue; the blue must cover at least 50%M003, Wear ear protection
ESafe condition: escape routes, exits, first-aid equipmentRectangular or squareWhite pictogram on green; the green must cover at least 50%E001, Emergency exit (left hand)
FFire protection: location of fire-fighting equipmentRectangular or squareWhite pictogram on red; the red must cover at least 50%F001, Fire extinguisher

Two further codes appear often in European specifications and are worth knowing by sight: W009, Warning; Biological hazard, and W024, Warning; Crushing of hands. Every registered symbol is listed with its code and title on the ISO Online Browsing Platform, so a sign described as being according to ISO 7010 can be checked against the source in seconds rather than against a supplier’s catalogue.

M001 deserves a note of its own. It is the general mandatory action sign, a plain white disc on blue with no specific instruction, and it is designed to be paired with a supplementary text panel. Where no registered symbol exists for a particular requirement, M001 plus text is the correct construction rather than an invented pictogram. On multilingual sites the supplementary panel is also the part that gets translated, while the pictogram above it stays the same in every language version.

Is ISO 7010 mandatory in Europe?

No. EN ISO 7010 is a standard, not legislation, and no European instrument states that every safety sign must comply with it. The duty comes from elsewhere, and understanding that split is what stops a compliance argument going the wrong way.

The governing instrument is Council Directive 92/58/EEC of 24 June 1992, the ninth individual directive under the framework Directive 89/391/EEC on safety and health at work. Article 3 requires employers to provide safety and health signs “where hazards cannot be avoided or adequately reduced by techniques for collective protection or measures, methods or procedures used in the organization of work”. Signs are the last measure in the hierarchy, not the first. Because this is a directive rather than a regulation, it takes effect through national transposing law, and it sets minimum requirements that a member state may exceed but not undercut. EU-OSHA summarises the same duty and adds the accompanying obligation to instruct workers on what the signs mean and what behaviour they require.

Where a sign is required, Annex II sets out what it must look like: the shapes, the safety colours and the minimum colour areas quoted in the table above. Annex II also permits variation. Point 1.3 states that the pictograms used “may be slightly different from or more detailed than those shown in section 3, provided that they convey the same meaning”, and point 1.2 requires pictograms to be as simple as possible, containing only essential details.

That permission is the hinge. It is the clause through which the ISO 7010 register enters national practice: an EN ISO 7010 pictogram conveys the meaning that the annex describes, so it satisfies the annex while being drawn to a single agreed international artwork. National guidance across Europe reaches the same conclusion, and safety authorities in several member states point specifiers directly at EN ISO 7010 because it offers more variations than the annex illustrates. So the chain runs: the directive creates the duty, national law transposes it, Annex II sets the intrinsic features, the permitted-variation clause opens the door, and ISO 7010 supplies a registered, internationally agreed symbol for each situation. Specifying EN ISO 7010 is therefore the reliable route to compliance, not a legal requirement in its own right.

How often the standard changes

More often than most sign inventories are reviewed. ISO lists amendments to the 2019 edition running from Amd 1:2020 through Amd 11:2026, with further amendments in development, and the standard is currently under review. CEN tracks these with matching amendments to EN ISO 7010:2020, which the national bodies then publish in turn, so the amendment number quoted on a European national adoption may sit a step behind the ISO one at any given moment.

Each amendment adds registered symbols rather than redrawing existing ones. Recent amendments introduced, among others, a prohibition sign for “Do not stare at light source”, a warning sign for “Hot content; Hot steam”, and mandatory action signs for “Disinfect your hands” and “Disinfect surface”. Existing codes stay valid, so an amendment does not invalidate signage already installed. What it does mean is that a hazard which had no registered symbol three years ago may have one now, and a site whose signage was drawn from an old symbol library may be using a text-only sign where a pictogram now exists.

What a compliant sign has to survive

Correct artwork is only half of the specification. Directive 92/58/EEC imposes physical requirements on the sign itself, and these are the requirements an ordinary printed sticker tends to fail in an industrial setting.

Annex II, point 1.4 states that signboards “are to be made of shock and weather-resistant material suitable for the surrounding environment”. Point 1.5 requires that “the dimensions and colorimetric and photometric features of signboards must be such that they can be easily seen and understood”, which makes colour stability a legal characteristic rather than a cosmetic one: a yellow warning sign that has faded towards cream no longer meets the specification, even though the pictogram is still legible. Point 2.1 of the same annex adds that “phosphorescent colours, reflective materials or artificial lighting should be used where the level of natural light is poor”. Annex I, point 6 requires that signs and signalling devices be “cleaned, maintained, checked, repaired, and if necessary replaced on a regular basis to ensure that they retain their intrinsic and/or functional qualities”.

Read together, these clauses set out a technical brief. A safety sign in a workshop, cold store or wash-down area must hold its colour under UV, resist solvents and repeated cleaning, keep its adhesion on oily, textured or low-energy surfaces in accordance with the environment it is fixed to, tolerate the temperature range of its location, and stay readable in poor light. General-purpose self-adhesive vinyl printed with unstabilised inks meets none of that reliably. It chalks, the red edging of a prohibition sign drifts towards orange, and the print lifts at the edges after a few cleaning cycles, at which point the sign has quietly stopped complying.

Self-adhesive construction is not a compromise, and the directive says so. Annex III, which governs marking on containers and pipes, requires signs to be mounted “in unpliable, self-adhesive or painted form”. A durable printed label is a recognised format in the legislation itself; the variable is the material specification behind it.

POLINAL manufactures self-adhesive safety marking to that kind of brief. Our warning stickers are produced on UV-stable substrates with laminates chosen for the environment they will live in, whether that is machine housings exposed to coolant, external plant, or interiors cleaned with industrial detergents. For traffic routes and hazard zones marked at floor level, our vinyl floor stickers are built to take pedestrian and forklift traffic without the pictogram abrading away. Where signage has to be consistent across many buildings or across several countries, we supply local authorities and institutions with standardised sets so that the same symbol appears identically on every site.

We do not sell the standard and we do not certify signage. What we do is produce the marking to a material specification that keeps it legible, correctly coloured and firmly attached for its service life, which is the part of compliance that degrades quietly between inspections.

Where national rules diverge

The pictograms are the same everywhere in Europe; the paperwork around them is not. Directive 92/58/EEC sets minimum requirements, so the operative text for any given site is the national transposing instrument, and a specification written for one country needs a short check before it is reused in another.

Three differences matter in practice. First, the national law is what an inspector cites, not the directive. In Poland the duty sits in the labour ministry’s general occupational health and safety regulations; in Germany it is set out in the technical rule for workplaces ASR A1.3, Sicherheits- und Gesundheitsschutzkennzeichnung, published by the federal institute BAuA; in France it sits in the Code du travail. Second, member states may go beyond the minimum, most often by adding requirements on sign sizes, viewing distances or the use of photoluminescent escape-route marking, so a sign that is compliant in one country can still be undersized for another country’s guidance. Third, outside the European Union the directive itself no longer applies. In the United Kingdom the equivalent duty is set out in the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, SI 1996/341, which transposed 92/58/EEC and retains the same schedule of shapes, colours and minimum colour areas; the British adoption of the standard is published by BSI as BS EN ISO 7010:2020+A8:2024, and HSE guidance confirms that pictograms from that standard can be used to comply. Switzerland and Norway apply their own national instruments while using the same EN ISO 7010 symbol register.

For a manufacturer supplying several markets, the working conclusion is straightforward. Draw the artwork once to EN ISO 7010, then confirm sizing, mounting height and any photoluminescence requirement against the national rules of the country where the sign will be installed.ou about all threats and allow you to avoid many potential accidents. Their greatest advantages are high durability and rich colours – thanks to this, the markings are visible from a distance and are characterised by a long life.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

  • What are the main principles for placing evacuation signs according to ISO 7010?

    Evacuation signs must be visible from every location where there might be doubt about the direction of the evacuation route, and should be evenly distributed relative to light sources. They cannot be placed on doors or covered by other objects, and evacuation and fire safety signs always take precedence over other health and safety signs. They must be made in intense colors ensuring good visibility from a distance.

  • At what height should signs be placed according to the ISO 7010 standard?

    The height of sign placement depends on their location: above doors or in open spaces 200-250 cm from the floor, on walls 170-200 cm from the floor, and in large spaces higher than 250 cm. Signs must be readable from an appropriate distance and cannot be covered by other objects. The height should enable easy reading of the sign from the user’s location.

  • What types of safety signs does the ISO 7010 standard define?

    The ISO 7010 standard defines five main categories of signs: green and white evacuation and rescue signs, red and white fire safety signs, blue and white mandatory signs, white and red prohibition signs, and yellow-black warning signs. Each type of sign has a specific function related to safety and accident prevention. All signs have a uniform appearance compliant with international standards.

  • What is the PN-EN ISO 7010:2012 standard and what did it replace?

    The PN-EN ISO 7010:2012 standard is the current Polish regulation for graphic symbols, safety colors and safety signs, which replaced the previous PN-N-01256-01:1992 standard. Its purpose is to standardize the appearance of evacuation and fire safety signs at an international level. The standard covers all locations where human safety issues should be considered.

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    Sources

    The statements above are drawn only from the bodies that write or enforce the rules: ISO and CEN for the standard, EUR-Lex and EU-OSHA for the law. Symbol codes and titles were checked against ISO’s own Online Browsing Platform rather than against retail catalogues. Anything not confirmed in these sources has been left out.

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