Doorhandles

IMO Doorhandles Sign – ES0085

This doorhandles sign marks which side of a door frame the handle sits on along an escape route, so crew and passengers can identify how to open the door at a glance, even in smoke or low visibility. It is one of a matching pair covering opposite-handed doors (ES0085 and ES0086), both listed under the same “Doorhandles” name in the IMO signs catalogue, since the two signs share an identical design and differ only in which side of the door frame they are mounted on. Doors along a ship’s escape routes are not all hinged the same way, and a crew member or passenger moving through unfamiliar or smoke-filled corridors during an emergency does not have time to feel around a door frame searching for a handle. A doorhandle indicator removes that guesswork: a single glance at the sign tells a person exactly where to reach, cutting the seconds it takes to get a door open and keeping foot traffic moving through a corridor rather than backing up at a bottleneck.

Where this doorhandles sign is used

These indicators are typically fitted beside cabin doors, corridor doors, watertight doors, and fire doors located along designated means-of-escape routes, wherever the direction of opening or the handle side is not immediately obvious from a distance. Because vessels are built with mirrored cabin layouts port and starboard, a single design would be misleading on half the doors aboard – which is exactly why the catalogue provides this sign as a mirrored pair rather than a single generic marker.

Material and construction

Manufactured from fire-retardant, marine-grade photoluminescent material, this sign is designed to remain legible under exactly the conditions where it matters most: thick smoke, complete darkness after a power failure, or a blacked-out vessel during an emergency drill or real evacuation. The photoluminescent film charges under normal ambient lighting and holds a glow for hours afterward, so the sign continues working even after mains and emergency lighting have both failed.

Regulatory context and inspection

Low-location and photoluminescent escape-route signage of this kind supports the low-location lighting and wayfinding requirements found in SOLAS Chapter II-2 and the IMO’s guidelines on evacuation analysis, which call for escape routes to remain identifiable by crew and passengers even when normal lighting has failed. Surveyors checking every doorhandles sign and escape route during a port state control inspection or a class survey will look for consistent, undamaged signage along the full length of a means of escape, so keeping every door marker legible and correctly positioned is part of maintaining that compliance, not just a one-off installation task. Because the photoluminescent pigment sits within a laminated film rather than a printed coating, this sign holds up to repeated cleaning and years of routine wear better than a painted or printed label would, which matters on a sign that may not be replaced again for the working life of the vessel. Technical specifications: SKU: ES0085 Size: 12 x 5cm Compliant: IMO Resolution A.1116(30)

• Fire-retardant marine-grade material
• Available in non-glow vinyl, general purpose glow, or DNV Wheelmark certified Class C / Class D photoluminescent film
• Waterproof and saltwater resistant
• Glossy, wipe-clean finish
• Peel-and-stick installation, no tools or drilling

Installing this doorhandles sign is straightforward: the peel-and-stick backing means this sign can be mounted directly onto a clean, dry door frame without tools, drilling, or specialist fitting, and the laminated film wipes clean if it picks up grime during routine cleaning of corridors and cabin areas. Compliant with IMO Resolution A.1116(30) signage requirements, this sign is part of our full range of Escape Route Signs. See the matching ES0086 doorhandles sign for the opposite-handed door. Need a different size? Contact us for a quote.