semiatic

ISO 7010 · M-series · Mandatory action

M011 Wash your hands

Our drawing, not ISO’s artwork.

Hands must be washed here, typically before leaving a work area or before handling food.

ISO 7010 reference
M011
Registered title
Wash your hands ISO Online Browsing Platform, ISO 7010 - M011, Wash your hands, reference number and registered title
Colour and shape
Blue circle, white symbol: Mandatory action: you must do this here

What the blue circle means

In HSE’s guidance on the UK Safety Signs and Signals Regulations 1996, a mandatory action sign has a round shape Health and Safety Executive (HSE), L64 Safety signs and signals: The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Guidance on Regulations (third edition), Part 2, mandatory signs, intrinsic features (a), page 16 and a white pictogram on a blue background (the blue part to take up at least 50% of the area of the sign) Health and Safety Executive (HSE), L64 Safety signs and signals: The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Guidance on Regulations (third edition), Part 2, mandatory signs, intrinsic features (b), page 16

Its colour stands for: Mandatory sign, Specific behaviour or action, eg wear protective equipment Health and Safety Executive (HSE), L64 Safety signs and signals: The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996. Guidance on Regulations (third edition), Table 1, blue, meaning or purpose (page 12)

In the UK: HSE L64

L64 does not name this sign. What it says about the whole class applies:

In the US: OSHA

OSHA’s rule below is about the hazard or the equipment, not about the sign itself.

  • Employers shall ensure that employees wash their hands immediately or as soon as feasible after removal of gloves or other personal protective equipment. US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 29 CFR 1910.1030 Bloodborne pathogens, 1910.1030(d)(2)(v), bloodborne pathogens

Signs people confuse with it, or find beside it

Other mandatory action signs

Sources

ISO 7010 is a paid standard. Its OBP entries are free to view, but they are a script-driven app, so the title and reference number above are copied from the entry's own heading as it lists them (read 2026-09-29), not from the paid text. Other lines in quotation marks are HSE’s or OSHA’s words.