Fire Equipment Sign

The Safety Signs and Signals Regulations 1996 command that any fire fighting equipment should be made noticeable using a 'permanent signboard'. That is a fire equipment sign. The Regulations place all risk and responsibilities on employers in relation to their workforce. You must make sure you act in accordance with the legislation and display a relevant fire equipment sign in appropriate points in your workplace. You should mark fire points, fire extinguishers, fire buckets, any firemans switch, dry risers, foam inlets, fire hose reels, and fire alarm call points with the relevant fire equipment sign. These signs are distinct from other safety signs as they are made up of a red background with white text and pictograms – usually of flames and sometimes a symbol of the object it is marking, eg a fire hose. The Health and Safety (Safety signs and signals) Regulations 1996 and the European Safety Signs Directive (92/58/EEC) regulates the types of safety sign used within European states and seeks to make sure there is no possibility of any safety sign being misunderstood because of language hence the use of pictograms in all safety signs including fire equipment signs.

A fire point fire equipment sign should be displayed if an assortment of fire fighting equipment – usually extinguishers, is placed in one site. If any fire equipment is located within a recess or a store, than you should display a fire equipment sign above head height which states ‘Fire point’. Thus allowing the fire point to be identified from a distance. Alternatively, this type of fire equipment sign could be replaced with a ‘fire fighting equipment’ sign or a pictogram only sign which still conforms to the regulations. If your premises has a clear internal layout which enables your fire extinguishers to be clearly visible to employees, there is no obligation to provide a fire equipment sign to point to the location of the fire extinguishing equipment. However, in more intricately laidout buildings, for example, where fire extinguishing equipment is stored in recessed fire points it would be appropriate to display fire equipment signs showing the location of the fire equipment via directional arrows if appropriate.

If your premises have high voltage equipment that requires an electrical isolation switch, you should display a firemans switch fire equipment sign nearby for firemen to identify this in any emergency. Likewise, a ‘dry riser’ fire equipment sign is used to notify the fire service of the position of a fire hydrant within the building. If you have a fire hose reel, you should display a fire hose reel fire equipment sign to identify its position within the building. You should make sure that the fire equipment sign goes with the kind of hose reel you have because manual hose reels differ to automatic hose reels in operating methods. Finally, a fire alarm call point sign should be displayed to notify building occupants of the location of any manual fire alarm point.