Wear respiratory protection sign (M017)
A blue circle with a white head wearing a respirator means respiratory protection must be worn where the sign is posted. It is sign M017 in ISO 7010.
Easily confused with
How to read it
ISO 7010 registers M017 as “Wear respiratory protection”, one of ISO 3864-1’s mandatory action signs. Great Britain’s Safety Signs and Signals Regulations 1996 word it “Respiratory equipment must be worn”. The CDC’s biosafety training describes a respirator as a device that covers the nose and mouth or the whole face or head, and says lab respirators filter out infectious or harmful particles, some by supplying the wearer with HEPA-filtered air.
Also searched as: gas mask symbol, M017, respirator symbol, respiratory equipment must be worn, respiratory protection 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.
Respirator signs on lab doors
The University of Houston’s lab door signs use a respirator pictogram for areas where engineering controls may not be enough to control exposure to airborne contaminants. Its safety office says entry to those areas is limited to employees cleared through the university’s respiratory protection program, so on those doors the sign also marks an area with restricted entry.
Look-alikes
ISO 7010 registers a separate sign, M016 “Wear a mask”, for a plain mask. The difference on the sign is the filter: M017 shows a respirator, M016 a mask held by loops. Houston’s safety office says surgical masks are not designed to protect the wearer except incidentally.
Read next
- Next in Lab safety symbolsWear a mask sign (M016)A blue circle with a white head wearing a plain mask over the nose and mouth means a mask must be worn where the sign is posted. It is sign M016 in ISO 7010.
- The same shape in Asian flagsFlag of South KoreaA white flag with a red and blue taegeuk circle in the centre and four black trigrams, one in each corner. South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety says the white stands for brightness, purity and peace, the taegeuk for the harmony of yin (blue) and yang (red), and the trigrams geon, gon, gam and ri for sky, earth, water and fire.
More lab safety symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with circles.
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, 3.5, Table 1, 6.3
- 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, 3.3
- Laboratory Doorsigns, University of Houston Environmental Health and Safety, Personal Protective Equipment
- Recognizing the Biosafety Levels (Quick Learn), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Glossary: Respirator
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research
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