What does this sign mean?
A mandatory (blue) sign requiring hands to be washed before starting work, after finishing it, or when leaving the area. The solid blue circle with a white symbol is the ISO 7010 mandatory shape, an instruction to act, not a hazard warning, and M011 shows two hands under running water from a tap.
Where does it go and when is it required?
Required in restaurant and hotel kitchens and food preparation halls, at wash basins in bakeries, butcheries and juice bars, in staff washrooms, in laboratories and in-house clinics, and at the exits from chemical and waste handling areas in factories and warehouses.
Regulation notes: Civil Defense, municipalities and occupational health authorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE expect personal hygiene mandatory signage at staff wash basins as a condition of health permits and food establishment licences, and it is among the first items checked on an inspection visit. In the UAE, practice under the OSHAD Code of Practice 17.0 is for Arabic to sit above English on safety signs.
- Fix it directly above the basin at 1.4–1.6 m, in the field of view of someone standing at it rather than behind their back.
- A5 or A4 above each basin; A3 at the entrance to the preparation hall or the staff changing room.
- Print on waterproof stock or laminate it, plain paper above a sink absorbs humidity and becomes unreadable within days.
This sign is also known as: wash your hands sign, hand washing required sign printable pdf, ISO 7010 M011 sign, wash hands mandatory sign Arabic English. Shape and colours follow ISO 7010 / ISO 3864-1, reference M011.
