A proper fire protection sign is indispensable for several reasons:

Quick orientation in an emergency: In the event of a fire, smoke development or a power failure, it allows people to quickly find escape routes and get to safety.

Finding fire extinguishers: It shows the fire brigade and trained employees at a glance the location of fire extinguishers, wall hydrants or fire detectors.

Legal obligation: Employers and building operators are legally obliged to ensure that safety and health labeling is compliant with standards.

Accident prevention: It contributes significantly to general safety and is a central point of every risk assessment.

The most important regulation in Germany is the Technical Rule for Workplaces ASR A1.3 "Safety and Health Protection Labelling". This transposes the European standard DIN EN ISO 7010 into national law.

ASR A1.3: Defines where and how safety signs (and thus also fire protection signs) must be used in workplaces.

DIN EN ISO 7010: Defines the pictograms (symbols), colors and shapes for security signs internationally in a uniform manner to ensure language-independent comprehensibility.

Since 2013, only the internationally understandable symbols according to ISO 7010 may be used in workplaces.

Although both contribute to safety in case of fire, they have different functions and look different:

Fire protection signs (red): Indicate the location of fire fighting and reporting devices.

Rescue signs (green): Indicate escape and rescue routes, emergency exits and locations of first aid facilities. They show the way away from danger.

The right placement is crucial for effectiveness. The ASR A1.3 gives clear guidelines for this:

Visibility: Signs must be clearly visible, permanently and in a suitable place. They must not be covered, soiled or served.

Attachment height: Ideally at a height of approx. 2.00 meters, so that they can also be seen well in busy areas or over obstacles.

Detection range: The size of the shield must match the distance from which it must be detected. The ASR A1.3 contains detailed tables for this purpose. (Examplex: A 15x15 cm sign is recognizable from up to 15 m distance).

Lighting: In areas without sufficient natural lighting, the signage must be either illuminated from the outside or long-lighted.

Long-light (photoluminescent) signs are always mandatory if there is no separate safety lighting in the event of a failure of the general lighting (e.g. power failure).

These signs are charged in the light and glow in the dark. This is particularly important for the marking of escape routes and fire protection devices in order to allow orientation even in the event of a total failure of light.

Yes, in principle there is a re-equirment obligation. The old German symbols according to BGV A8 are no longer standard-compliant. At the latest in the event of significant changes, extensions or in the course of the next update of the risk assessment, the signs must be brought up to the level of ASR A1.3 (ISO 7010). A mixture of old and new symbols should be avoided, as this can lead to confusion.