What size should my Health and Safety sign be?

What size should my Health and Safety sign be

?

A common question when trying to comply with UK health and safety law is "What size should my signs be?". For most of us choosing a size is not straight forward.

The most obvious answer is: "it depends upon the viewing distance from the intended sign".

With this in mind I have come up with the following size guidelines when choosing your health and safety signs (using a standardfire exit sign):

Viewing distance up to 10 metres: use a small sign (300mm x 100mm)

Viewing distance up to 20 metres: use a medium sign (600mm x 200mm)

Viewing distance up to 40 metres: use a large sign (1200mm x 400mm)

When the signs are installed above doors ensure a 2m to 2.5m distance from floor level to the base of the sign.

When the signs are wall fixed ensure a 1.4m to 1.7m distance from floor level to the base of the sign.

Like I said, use these measurements as guidelines only and not as a hard and fast rule.

Most importantly fire exit andemergency escape signs should be, as far as possible, evenly spread and consistently located at the same height to ensure the evacuee can quickly and effectively predict the location of the next sign within the escape route.

Such signs should never be fixed to doors or sited where they will be obscured by open doors.

Legislation Update

The Health & Safety Executive launched a new simplified version of the Health & Safety Law Poster on 6th April 2009.

Employers have a legal duty, under the Health & Safety information for Employees Regulations (HSIER), to display the poster in a prominent position in each workplace or provide each worker with a copy of the equivalent leaflet outlining British health and safety laws.

British Standard Fire Exit Signs

The BS 5499 code of practice for escape route signing states,

1) That a fire exit sign with an arrow should be used where the escape route from a building is not conspicuous orconfusion could occur.

2) All changes in direction in corridors, stairways and open spaces forming part of the escape route should be marked with additional signs.

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