Lesson 6 · 13 min
IMO safety signs and markings: A.1116(30) and ISO 24409
You will be able to walk a ship and check every escape sign, equipment marking and fire control symbol against A.1116(30) and the SOLAS rules behind it.
Start here
The 2-minute primer
New to this? These 6 cards explain the lesson in plain words. Go through them first and the lesson will make sense.
Primer done.
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1/6Picture this
Finding the exit in a foreign airport
Think of landing in an airport where you can’t read a word of the language. You still find the exit, the toilets and the first-aid room, because the little pictures look the same everywhere.
Ships use the same idea. In a fire at night, with smoke and no lights, nobody reads a notice. People follow familiar shapes and colours to safety.
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2/6The big idea
Same symbols, same colours, every ship
Every ship should use the same safety signs, so anyone on board knows what they mean, even on day one.
You can tell the families apart by colour and shape. Green shows the way out and life-saving gear. Red squares mark fire-fighting equipment. Red circles forbid things, yellow triangles warn, and blue circles tell you what you must do. International standards set the exact designs.
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3/6Words you'll meet
Five words, in plain English
- Escape route sign
- a green sign with a running figure and an arrow, showing the way out.
- Equipment location marking
- a sign on a locker or bracket showing what safety equipment is kept there.
- Muster station
- the place on deck where everyone gathers in an emergency.
- Low-location lighting
- lights or glowing strips near the floor that you can still follow under smoke.
- Fire control plan
- a drawing of the ship showing all fire-fighting equipment, using standard symbols.
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4/6Why it matters
The last safety tool anyone uses
Signs are the only safety equipment that must work for passengers, visitors and new crew who have never seen the ship before.
A wrong symbol on a locker, an arrow pointing into a space that has since been closed off, or a glowing strip that has faded can send people the wrong way. Surveyors check signs every year, and sign faults are a regular inspection finding.
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5/6In this lesson
What you’ll be able to do
- Tell the sign families apart by colour and shape.
- Know which ships must use the current set of signs.
- Walk an escape route and check every sign on it.
- Check that lockers, lifebuoys and the fire plan are marked correctly.
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6/6Quick check
What does a red square sign on a bulkhead mark?
Right: red squares mark fire-fighting equipment. Green shows the way out, and red circles forbid things.
The basics
In a fire at night, with smoke at head height and the lights out, nobody on board reads a notice. People follow green arrows at floor level, look for the shape of a lifejacket on a locker door, and grab the extinguisher under the red square. Shipboard signs are the last piece of safety equipment a person uses, and the only one that has to work for passengers, contractors and new crew who have never seen the ship before.
That only works if every ship uses the same symbols, in the same colours and shapes, in the same places. Since 2019 that standard has been resolution A.1116(30), Escape route signs and equipment location markings, built on the ISO 24409 series and the ISO 7010 registered safety signs.
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In the rest of this lesson
- Try it: Signs and markings on the way from cabin to muster station
- In plain words
- In detail
- What the rules say
- Flag and class notes
- Key numbers
- What inspectors find
- 4 questions people ask
- Quiz: 5 questions
- Ask our engineers about this lesson
Familiarisation training from Al Safwan Academy. Finishing a course shows completion of online familiarisation training: it is not an STCW, flag-approved or manufacturer qualification, and these courses don't replace that training. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.