Draft:Safety symbol

Hazard symbols are universally recognized symbols designed to alert individuals to the presence of hazardous or dangerous materials, locations, or conditions. These include risks associated with electromagnetic fields, electric currents, toxic chemicals, explosive substances, and radioactive materials. Their design and use are often governed by laws and standards organizations to ensure clarity and consistency. Hazard symbols may vary in color, background, borders, or accompanying text to indicate specific dangers and levels of risk, such as toxicity classes. These symbols provide a quick, universally understandable visual warning that transcends language barriers, making them more effective than text-based warnings in many situations.

Examples of common symbols

Hazard symbols
ISO 7010	European Union	China	Canada	Soviet Union	United States
General warning sign	General danger	General danger	Be Alert!	Other hazards	—
Flammable material	Flammable matter	Fire	Flammable	Flammable substances	Flammable
Electricity hazard	Danger electricity	Electric shock	Electrical hazard	Electrical	Electric shock
Prohibitation symbols
ISO 7010	European Union	China	Canada	Soviet Union	United States
No smoking	No smoking	No smoking	No smoking	No smoking	No smoking
No pedestrians	Not access for unauthorized persons	No throughfare	—	No entry	No admittance
Safety equipment/condition symbols
ISO 7010	European Union	China	Canada	Soviet Union	United States
Emergency exit (left)	Exit (left)	Exit (Left)	Emergency exit	Exit	Exit
First aid	First aid post	First aid	Emergency medical supplies	—	First aid
Firefighting symbols
ISO 7010	European Union	China	Canada	Soviet Union	United States
Fire extinguisher	Fire Extinguisher	Fire extingusher	Emergency Fire Extinguisher	Fire extingusher	Fire extinguisher
Fire hose reel	Fire hose	Fire hose	Emergency fire hose	Fire hydrant	Fire hose or standpipe
Fire alarm call point	—	Fire alarm call point	Emergency Alarm	Fire notification point	Pull station/Fire alarm box

Symbol design

Comprehension testing is a critical element of the design of safety symbols. Symbols that have poor comprehension could ultimately be ineffective or worse lead people into harms way.

Generic warning symbol

Further information: Warning sign

Generic warning symbol
(Background color varies)

On roadside warning signs, an exclamation mark is often used to draw attention to a generic warning of danger, hazards, and the unexpected. In Europe and elsewhere in the world (except North America and Australia), this type of sign is used if there are no more-specific signs to denote a particular hazard. When used for traffic signs, it is accompanied by a supplementary sign describing the hazard, usually mounted under the exclamation mark.

This symbol has also been more widely adopted for generic use in many other contexts not associated with road traffic. It often appears on hazardous equipment, in instruction manuals to draw attention to a precaution, on tram/train blind spot warning stickers and on natural disaster (earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, volcanic eruption) preparedness posters/brochures—as an alternative when a more-specific warning symbol is not available.

Non-standard symbols

Sign on a fence around the Beromünster Reserve Broadcasting Tower in Switzerland, warning of high voltage and danger of death

A large number of warning symbols with non-standard designs are in use around the world.

Some warning symbols have been redesigned to be more comprehensible to children, such as the Mr. Ouch (depicting an electricity danger as a snarling, spiky creature) and Mr. Yuk (a green frowny face sticking its tongue out, to represent poison) designs in the United States.

See also

• Bouba/kiki effect – Non-arbitrary attachment of sounds to object shapes
• Pictogram
• ISO 7010 – ISO standard for safety symbols
• ISO 7001 – ISO standard for public information symbols.
• Safety sign

Bibliography

• Product Safety Sign and Label System (3rd ed.). Santa Clara, CA: FMC Corporation. 1980.
• Product Safety Label Handbook. Pittsburgh, PA: Westinghouse Electric Corp. 1981.
• Ross, Kenneth (October 1983). "The Story of 'MR OUCH' - Creation of a warning label". Product Liability International: 152–154.
• Product Safety Sign and Label System (4th ed.). Santa Clara, CA: FMC Corporation. 1985.
• Ryan, Joseph P. (1990). Design of Warning Labels and Instructions. New York, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0442319533.
• National Fire Protection Association (2024). NFPA 170 - Standard for Fire Safety and Emergency Symbols. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Retrieved 19 December 2024.
• American Institute of Graphic Arts (November 1974). "Symbol Signs. The Development of Passenger/Pedestrian Oriented Symbols for Use in Transportation-Related Facilities". National Technical Reports Library. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
• Olgyay, Nora (1995). Safety Symbols Art - Camera-Ready and Disk Art for Designers. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. ISBN 0442018444.
• Product Safety Sign and Label System (3rd ed.). Santa Clara, CA: FMC Corporation. 1980.
• Product Safety Label Handbook. Pittsburgh, PA: Westinghouse Electric Corp. 1981.
• Wogalter, Michael S.; DeJoy, David M.; Laughery, Kenneth R. (1999). Warnings and Risk Communication. Philadelphia, PA: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-7484-0266-3.
• American Institute of Graphic Arts (December 1982). Symbol signs : The system of passenger/pedestrian oriented symbols developed for the U.S. Department of Transportation (2nd ed.). Hastings House.