Fire Equipment Signs

The recent Safety Signs and Signals Regulations demand the type of fire fighting equipment and the position of fire fighting equipment be marked using a 'permanent signboard'. The Regulations put responsibilities on employers in relation to risks to their employees. Ensure you comply with the legislation and supply fire equipment signs to your premises if relevant. All items of fire fighting equipment are recommended to be labeled with the appropriate fire equipment signs. These signs are coloured red with white writing and pictograms. The following section will describe the main types of fire equipment signs. If a variety of fire fighting equipment is stored at one location, the `Fire Point" type of fire equipment signs should be used. When fire equipment is stored in a recess or storeroom, fire equipment signs stating ‘Fire point’ should be mounted above head height. They enable the fire equipment to be identified from a distance. These types of fire equipment signs could also be substituted with ‘fire fighting equipment’ signs or pictogram only signs. Fire alarm call point signs are fire equipment signs used to inform users of a manual fire alarm point. All lift and elevator entrances should be marked with warning signs stating that they are not to be used in the event of fire.

Dry riser fire equipment signs are there to notify the fire service of the location of an internal fire hydrant. Fire hose reel fire equipment signs are displayed to identify the location of a fire hose reel. You should ensure that the sign matches with the type of hose reel it is marking as operating methods of manual hose reels differ to operating methods of automatic hose reels.

A firemans switch fire equipment sign is used to identify an electrical isolation switch for high voltage equipment. In a building where the internal layout is such that the extinguishers provided are clearly visible to employees there should not be a requirement to further indicate the position of the fire fighting equipment with fire equipment signs. In more complex building layouts, eg where fire fighting equipment is contained within recessed 'fire points' then it would be relevant to provide fire equipment signs indicating the position of the equipment using directional arrows if relevant.