Directive 92/58/EEC
Council Directive 92/58/EEC of 24 June 1992 on the minimum requirements for the provision of safety and/or health signs at work.
Directive 92/58/EEC is the EU Safety Signs Directive. It sets the minimum requirements for safety and health signs at work, including the colours, shapes and pictograms of escape and fire-fighting signs, and is the common root of the UK and Irish safety signs regulations.
For signage and wayfinding
What it asks of your signs
- 01It explains why safety signs look the same in Dublin, Belfast and London: the Irish and UK regulations both transpose it.
- 02Escape and first-aid signs are rectangular or square, white pictogram on green, green covering at least 50% of the area. Fire-fighting signs are the same in red.
- 03Pictograms may differ slightly from the examples in the Annexes, provided the meaning is the same and is not obscured. That flexibility is what lets ISO 7010 artwork comply.
- 04You comply through your national regulations. Specify against the Irish or UK instrument and use the Directive for background.
Scope and structure
Adopted on 24 June 1992, it is the ninth individual Directive under the Framework Directive 89/391/EEC. Its twelve articles cover object, definitions, general rules, signs used for the first time and signs already in use, exemptions, information and instruction for workers, consultation, and amendments to the Annexes. It repealed Directive 77/576/EEC.
The nine Annexes carry the technical content: general requirements, signboards, containers and pipes, fire-fighting equipment, obstacles and traffic routes, illuminated signs, acoustic signs, verbal communication and hand signals. Annex II sets the shape and colour of each signboard family and allows a supplementary 'this way' sign with escape and fire-fighting signs.
Amendments
The consolidated text on EUR-Lex lists three amending acts: Directive 2007/30/EC, Directive 2014/27/EU (which aligned the Directive with the CLP Regulation on chemical labelling) and Regulation (EU) 2019/1243 (which added delegated powers to amend the Annexes).
How it reaches your project
In Ireland it is transposed by Part 7, Chapter 1 of the General Application Regulations 2007. In Great Britain it is implemented by the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, and in Northern Ireland by the equivalent 1996 Northern Ireland Regulations. The Directive sets minimums and shows example pictograms. ISO 7010 is the registered set of sign artwork that designers draw from, and ISO 3864-1 sets the design principles behind it.
Editions and history
Replaced Council Directive 77/576/EEC. Amended in 2007, 2014 and 2019. legislation.gov.uk holds a copy of the Directive as it stood for UK purposes at the end of 2020.
Sources checked
- eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1992/58/2019-07-26/eng
- legislation.gov.uk/eudr/1992/58/contents
- hsa.ie/eng/publications_and_forms/publications/general_application_regulations/safety_signs_at_places_of_work.pdf
- hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l64.pdf
A summary in our own words, checked on 16 October 2026. It is not the document itself and not legal advice.
Equivalents and related
The same ground, elsewhere.
- Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, Part 7 Chapter 1: Safety Signs at Places of WorkIreland
- The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996Great Britain · NI
- Graphical symbols: Safety colours and safety signs: Registered safety signsInternational
- Graphical symbols: Safety colours and safety signs, Part 1: Design principles for safety signs and safety markingsInternational
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Working to Directive 92/58/EEC on a live project?
Wayfinding design, compliance, manufacture and installation, with the signage certificates signed off by us.