TS ISO 3864-1

TS ISO 3864-1 is the standard that sets out design principles for safety signs and safety markings used in workplaces and public areas. It addresses the visual language of safety communication for accident prevention, fire protection, health hazard information, and emergency evacuation.

The role of safety colours and signs

Safety signs do not simply describe a hazard; they use quickly recognised graphic symbols and colour coding to guide behaviour. Safety colours such as red, yellow, blue, and green are used to distinguish meanings such as prohibition, warning, mandatory action, safe condition, or escape route. This distinction is especially important in multilingual settings and in situations where people must react immediately.

What this standard frames

• It addresses the principles for using safety identification colours.
• It provides design principles for safety signs in workplaces and public areas.
• It establishes a common visual approach for safety markings.
• It sets basic principles to be applied when developing standards that contain safety signs.

In general technical practice, standards of this kind aim to create a consistent system linking symbol shape, colour relationship, contrast, and legibility. As a result, the meaning of a sign can be recognised more easily across different sectors, and the same visual language can be applied consistently in varied safety contexts.

This document focuses on the foundational design principles for interpreting and developing safety signs. It does not, by itself, define a site-specific risk assessment, an implementation plan, or every condition of use for individual signs. It serves as a baseline reference for aligning colour and symbol use within broader safety marking systems.