UV-Printed Evacuation Maps & Exit-Route Signs: What OSHA 1910.37 and 1910.38 Cover

The Short Answer

Two OSHA Sections, One Evacuation System

In general industry, exit marking is covered by 29 CFR 1910.37: each exit gets a clearly visible “Exit” sign, doors and passages that could be mistaken for exits get a “Not an Exit” or room-use sign, direction signs are posted where the way out isn’t obvious, and exit signs must be illuminated or self-luminous. The plan that tells people which way to go is covered by 29 CFR 1910.38, which requires a written emergency action plan with procedures for evacuation, including the type of evacuation and exit route assignments. OSHA does not require a posted floor map by name, but its own evacuation guidance says most employers make maps from floor diagrams with arrows for route assignments and post them prominently. UV printing is a strong fit for those maps and for the custom signs around them. The illuminated exit sign itself is a different product, covered below.

What 1910.37 Requires

How OSHA Wants Exit Routes Marked

Section 1910.37 is titled “Maintenance, safeguards, and operational features for exit routes,” and its lighting and marking rules, in paragraph (b), are short enough to list in full. An exit sign is only one part of what has to work together:

Routes are lit. Each exit route must be adequately lighted so that an employee with normal vision can see along it. (b)(1)
Exits are marked. Each exit must be clearly visible and marked by a sign reading “Exit.” (b)(2)
Doors are kept clear. Each exit route door must be free of decorations or signs that obscure the visibility of the door. (b)(3)
Direction is shown. If the direction of travel to the exit or exit discharge is not immediately apparent, signs must be posted along the exit access indicating the direction of travel to the nearest exit and exit discharge, and the line of sight to an exit sign must be clearly visible at all times. (b)(4)
Look-alikes are labeled. Each doorway or passage along an exit access that could be mistaken for an exit must be marked “Not an Exit” or a similar designation, or be identified by a sign indicating its actual use, such as “closet.” (b)(5)
Exit signs are visible in the dark. Each exit sign must be illuminated to a surface value of at least five foot-candles (54 lux) by a reliable light source and be distinctive in color. Self-luminous or electroluminescent signs with a minimum luminance of at least 0.06 foot-lamberts (0.21 cd/m²) are permitted. (b)(6)
Letters are large. The word “Exit” must be in plainly legible letters not less than six inches high, with the principal strokes not less than three-fourths of an inch wide. (b)(7)

Two of those lines matter most for anyone ordering printed graphics. The first is the door rule, (b)(3): a map, poster or decorative graphic on an exit door can itself be the problem. The second is the “Not an Exit” rule, (b)(5), which is a custom-sign job: every storage room, mechanical room and unmarked stairway that looks like a way out needs a label that says what it really is.

Quote an Evacuation Sign Set →

A paper fire evacuation plan for a building posted on a wall, showing offices, open bay areas, exits, extinguisher and alarm symbols and a legend

A fire evacuation plan with floor layout, exits, extinguisher and alarm locations, a legend and written instructions, shown as a torn paper printout taped to a wall. Paper like this is what a durable printed map replaces. Not a Polyprint project. Photo: Fernost, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

What 1910.38 Requires

The Emergency Action Plan Behind the Map

A map is only useful if it matches a plan. Section 1910.38 sets the minimum content of an emergency action plan, and this is where “exit route assignments” come from.

The plan must be in writing, kept in the workplace and available to employees for review. An employer with ten or fewer employees may communicate the plan orally. At a minimum the plan must include:

Procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency.
Procedures for emergency evacuation, including the type of evacuation and exit route assignments.
Procedures for employees who remain to operate critical plant operations before they evacuate.
Procedures to account for all employees after evacuation.
Procedures for employees performing rescue or medical duties.
The name or job title of every employee who may be contacted for more information about the plan.

Three other lines in 1910.38 shape how maps get produced. The employer must designate and train employees to assist in a safe and orderly evacuation, and must review the plan with each covered employee when the plan is developed or the employee is first assigned, when the employee’s responsibilities under the plan change, and when the plan itself changes. That last trigger is the one that matters to print: if a route, exit or assembly point changes, the plan has changed, and the map that employees see on the wall is part of how they learn it.

OSHA’s evacuation eTool describes how this usually works in practice. Most employers make maps from floor diagrams with arrows that show the exit route assignments, and the maps should include the locations of exits, assembly points and emergency equipment such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits and spill kits. It adds that exit routes should be clearly marked and well lit, wide enough for the people using them, unobstructed at all times, and unlikely to expose people to additional hazards. When drawings of evacuation routes and exits are prepared, OSHA says to post them prominently for all employees to see.

The Map Itself

What an Evacuation Map Should Show

OSHA’s eTool gives the content list; good layout practice makes it readable in a few seconds. Based on the OSHA guidance above plus common wayfinding practice, a posted map for each area normally includes:

The floor or zone plan, drawn from a current architectural or field-verified drawing, not a decades-old one that no longer matches walls and doors.
Exits and the route to each. Arrows show the assigned primary route, and a second route where your plan assigns one. Exit route assignments come from your emergency action plan, not from us.
A “you are here” marker placed for the exact spot where the map hangs. This is common practice rather than an OSHA line, and it is the main reason a map is custom: the same building needs a different marker for every mounting location.
Assembly points, inside as areas of refuge or outside, so people know where to gather for the head count the plan calls for.
Emergency equipment, such as fire extinguishers, first aid kits and spill kits, in the locations OSHA names.
A legend for every symbol, as in the plan in the photo above, which pairs symbols with bilingual labels.
A revision date or plan version. Because the plan must be reviewed with employees when it changes, a visible date makes it obvious when a map is out of date.

Color use is up to you, but it should be consistent. Many sites use the safety-color convention from ANSI Z535, with white on green for safety equipment and white on red for fire equipment, which we cover in our guide to OSHA and ANSI safety signs. If your insurer or fire marshal prescribes a format for your jurisdiction, follow that and send it to us; we print the file you approve.

Where UV Printing Helps

Why Print Evacuation Maps Instead of Taping Up Paper

Paper maps get torn, faded, covered by other notices and left up for years after the layout changed. A printed rigid panel can’t fix an out-of-date plan, but it does remove several of the common reasons maps fail in practice:

Every location gets its own map. With direct UV printing there are no plates or screens, so a building with a dozen mounting points can have a dozen maps, each with the correct “you are here” marker, without paying for tooling on each.
Fine detail stays sharp. Floor plans have thin walls, small symbols, legends and bilingual text. UV inks hold small type and line work on rigid surfaces, and white ink lets the plan sit on a clear or colored panel.
Rigid, cleanable substrates. Maps print directly on aluminum, ACM, acrylic and rigid plastics, the same blanks used for other facility signs. See our guides to UV printing on aluminum and durability and care. The right panel depends on where it hangs: a warehouse wall is a different environment from an office corridor.
Short-run updates. When one floor’s route changes, you reorder that floor’s map from the saved file instead of reprinting the building.
Matching support signs in one run. “Not an Exit” and room-use signs, assembly-point signs, extinguisher and first aid location signs and stair labels can be printed in the same color system as the maps, so the whole set reads as one system.

We don’t claim a printed panel makes a plan compliant. Compliance comes from the plan, the training, the routes being clear and the exit marking meeting the standard. The printed map is how the plan reaches people.

Where Printing Stops

Exit Signs, Codes and the Limits of a Print Job

The “Exit” sign is a lighting product

Section 1910.37(b)(6) requires exit signs to be illuminated by a reliable light source and be distinctive in color, or to be self-luminous or electroluminescent at the stated luminance. That makes the sign a piece of safety equipment, and building and fire codes add their own requirements for how and where it is installed and tested. We don’t treat a printed “Exit” panel as a substitute for the unit your code official accepts. If you’re unsure what your building requires, ask your local fire marshal or building department before ordering.

Local codes can ask for more than OSHA

OSHA is the federal workplace baseline. Cities, states, insurers and building owners often layer on requirements for evacuation diagram placement, size, content or wording, particularly in hotels, schools, apartment buildings and high-rises. Those requirements vary, and we don’t interpret them for you. Send us the rule, template or approved drawing and we’ll print to it.

Keep the exit door clear

Because 1910.37(b)(3) says exit route doors must be free of decorations or signs that obscure their visibility, plan map and sign placement with that in mind. Mount maps on the wall beside the door, at a height and position where someone can stop and read without blocking the route. Section 1910.37(a)(3) also says no materials or equipment may be placed, permanently or temporarily, within the exit route, so confirm with your fire marshal that frames and projecting signs leave the corridor width clear.

Lighting and power failures

Z535.2, which OSHA’s construction rule incorporates for safety signs, suggests photoluminescent or retroreflective materials or emergency lighting where lighting can fail. If your site wants glow-in-the-dark wayfinding, tell us early so we can discuss which materials suit the application and what testing or listing your authority having jurisdiction expects.

Evacuation maps and ADA signs are different jobs

Permanent room identification signs fall under the ADA Standards, with their own tactile and Braille requirements. A posted evacuation map does not replace them. See our guide to ADA signage compliance.

Common Mistakes

Where Evacuation Sign Orders Go Wrong

Printing from an outdated drawing. If walls, doors or tenants have changed, the map shows a building that no longer exists. Verify the plan before it goes to print.
One map for the whole building. A map is only useful if its “you are here” marker is correct for where it hangs.
Mounting a map on the exit door. That can obscure the door that 1910.37 says must stay visible.
Forgetting the look-alike doors. Closets, mechanical rooms and unmarked stairs need “Not an Exit” or room-use signs.
Symbols without a legend. Visitors and new hires don’t know your icons, and non-English speakers need the legend most.
Changing the route and leaving the old map up. The plan must be reviewed with employees when it changes, so replace the maps in the same update.
Treating a print job as the compliance work. The plan, training, clear routes and accepted exit marking come first. The map communicates them.

Quoting

What to Send for an Evacuation Sign Quote

Current floor plans (PDF, CAD or vector art) and the date they were last verified
Your approved exit route assignments, secondary routes and assembly points, or the emergency action plan section that describes them
A list of mounting locations, so each map gets the right “you are here” position
Equipment to show, such as extinguishers, first aid kits and spill kits, and the legend text and languages
Any format required by your insurer, fire marshal or building owner
Sizes and quantities per location, and the support signs you want in the same set (“Not an Exit,” room-use, assembly point)
Substrate preference or the environment (indoor corridor, warehouse, washdown area), mounting method and frame requirements

FAQ

Evacuation Maps & Exit Signs — Common Questions

Does OSHA require a posted evacuation map?

Not by name. 29 CFR 1910.38 requires a written emergency action plan that includes procedures for emergency evacuation, including the type of evacuation and exit route assignments. OSHA’s evacuation eTool says most employers create maps from floor diagrams with arrows that designate exit route assignments, and that drawings of evacuation routes and exits should be posted prominently for all employees to see. Many employers, insurers and local fire officials expect a posted map, so check your local requirements.

What does OSHA say exit signs must look like?

Under 29 CFR 1910.37(b), each exit must be clearly visible and marked by a sign reading “Exit.” Where the direction of travel to the exit is not immediately apparent, signs must be posted along the exit access indicating the direction to the nearest exit, and the line of sight to an exit sign must be clearly visible at all times. A doorway or passage that could be mistaken for an exit must be marked “Not an Exit” or a similar designation, or identified by a sign showing its actual use, such as “Closet.” Each exit sign must be illuminated to at least five foot-candles (54 lux) by a reliable light source and be distinctive in color, though self-luminous or electroluminescent signs with a luminance of at least 0.06 foot-lamberts are permitted. The word “Exit” must be at least six inches high, with principal strokes at least three-quarters of an inch wide.

Can a UV printer make the “Exit” sign itself?

Printing is not the limiting factor; the requirement is. An exit sign must be illuminated or self-luminous (or electroluminescent), and illuminated exit signs are normally bought as complete fixtures that also have to satisfy building and fire codes. For the illuminated or self-luminous exit marking itself, buy the product your code official accepts. UV printing is the right tool for the other pieces of the system: evacuation maps, “Not an Exit” and room-use signs, assembly-point signs, equipment location signs and custom wayfinding that supports the plan.

Can I put a map or sign on an exit door?

Be careful. 29 CFR 1910.37(b) says each exit route door must be free of decorations or signs that obscure the visibility of the exit route door. Keep maps, posters and decorative graphics off the exit door itself and mount them on the adjacent wall, where people can read them without obscuring the door.

How often does an evacuation map need to be replaced?

OSHA doesn’t set a replacement interval for maps, but 1910.38(f) requires the employer to review the emergency action plan with each affected employee when the plan is changed. If a route assignment, exit or assembly point changes, the posted map no longer matches the plan and should be corrected. Printing in short runs makes it practical to replace one floor’s map without reordering the whole building.

Do evacuation maps have to be ADA compliant?

Evacuation maps are a different thing from the permanent room identification signs that the ADA Standards cover. Tactile and Braille requirements apply to specific sign types, and the rules for those are covered separately. If you need both, keep them as separate items and see our guide to ADA signage compliance.

Sources: 29 CFR 1910.37(a)-(b), Maintenance, safeguards, and operational features for exit routes (OSHA, eCFR); 29 CFR 1910.38, Emergency action plans (OSHA, eCFR); OSHA Evacuation Plans and Procedures eTool, Emergency Action Plan: Evacuation Elements (osha.gov); 29 CFR 1910.145 and ANSI Z535.2-2011 as discussed in our safety sign guide. This page is general information, not legal or fire-code advice. Confirm the requirements for your building with OSHA, your local fire marshal or building department and your insurer.

UV-Printed Evacuation Maps & Exit-Route Signs