Safety shower sign (E012)
A green square with a white figure standing under a shower marks the location of an emergency safety shower. It is sign E012 in ISO 7010.
How to read it
ISO 7010 registers E012, “Safety shower”, among the green safe condition signs that ISO 3864-1 says indicate “the location of safety equipment or a safety facility”. Great Britain’s Safety Signs and Signals Regulations 1996 have a Safety shower sign in the same white-on-green style. Like the eyewash sign, it shows where equipment is, not a hazard.
Also searched as: drench shower sign, E012, emergency shower sign, emergency shower symbol, safety shower symbol.
These explain what each sign means and which standard sets it. What to do in a laboratory is set by the lab’s own rules, signs and trained staff; for a chemical, refer to its label and safety data sheet.
Why labs post it
OSHA’s rule at 29 CFR 1910.151(c) requires facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body within the work area where people may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials. OSHA’s non-mandatory appendix on laboratory chemical hygiene says a lab should have an adequate number and placement of safety showers, eyewash units and fire extinguishers, and lists location signs for safety showers among the signs to post. The University of Houston’s lab door signs include a safety shower pictogram among the safety equipment present.
Look-alikes
The eyewash sign, E011, shows a face with a jet of water rising to the eye. The figure on a green sign running towards a door is the emergency exit sign.
Read next
- Next in Lab safety symbolsNo eating or drinking sign (P022)A red ring and diagonal bar across a cup and food means eating and drinking are forbidden where the sign is posted. It is sign P022 in ISO 7010; lab signs often word it “No food or drink”.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of AngolaAngola’s flag is red over black with a yellow emblem in the centre: part of a cogwheel, a machete and a five-pointed star. Its constitution says the red is the blood shed by Angolans under colonial oppression, in the liberation struggle and in defence of the country, and the black is the African continent; the cogwheel stands for workers and industry, the machete for peasants, farming and the armed struggle, the star for international solidarity and progress, and their yellow for the country’s wealth.
More lab safety symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines or squares and rectangles.
Sources
- ISO 3864-1:2011, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Part 1: Design principles for safety signs and safety markings (preview), ISO 3864-1:2011, International Organization for Standardization, preview via iTeh Standards, 3.8, Table 1
- ISO 7010:2011, Graphical symbols — Safety colours and safety signs — Registered safety signs (preview), ISO 7010:2011, International Organization for Standardization, preview via iTeh Standards, Table 1
- The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, Schedule 1, SI 1996/341, legislation.gov.uk (UK Government), Part II, 3.4
- Medical services and first aid (29 CFR 1910.151), 29 CFR 1910.151, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 1910.151(c)
- National Research Council Recommendations Concerning Chemical Hygiene in Laboratories (Non-Mandatory), Appendix A to 29 CFR 1910.1450, 29 CFR 1910.1450 Appendix A, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Safety Equipment and Utilities; Signs
- Laboratory Doorsigns, University of Houston Environmental Health and Safety, Safety Equipment
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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