General Prohibition Sign

General Prohibition Sign

A general prohibition sign is the base ISO 7010 pictogram, a plain red circle with a diagonal bar on a white background and no internal symbol, used whenever a specific action needs to be forbidden but no ready-made pictogram exists for it. On board a vessel or around a port facility, a general prohibition sign is often paired with a custom supplementary text panel added underneath, letting a ship’s officer or safety manager write a precise instruction such as “no unauthorised entry”, “no naked flames beyond this point” or any other site-specific restriction that a standard pictogram library does not cover. This flexibility makes the general prohibition sign one of the most widely stocked items in any marine or industrial safety signage kit.

Because it carries no built-in pictogram, this sign relies on its universally recognised red-and-white prohibition circle to signal “not permitted” at a glance, while the accompanying wording supplies the detail. This makes a general prohibition sign especially useful for hazards that are specific to a single vessel, cargo type or worksite, where creating a custom ISO 7010 symbol would be impractical. Ship chandlers and marine suppliers list this item under its own IMPA and ISSA marine catalogue codes, so procurement teams can order a consistent base sign for every vessel in a fleet and then apply the required wording locally, without waiting on a bespoke print run each time a new restriction is identified.

Typical Uses Aboard Ship And In Port

A general prohibition sign is commonly fitted at temporary exclusion zones during maintenance, around restricted storage areas, near equipment undergoing repair, or wherever a supervisor needs to prohibit an action that falls outside the standard pictogram set. Safety Sign Hub produces every general prohibition sign in a fire-retardant, photoluminescent material, ensuring the red prohibition circle stays visible in low light, during a power outage or in a smoke-affected space, which matters when this sign is also relied upon during an emergency response.

Standards And Ordering Notes

Because the base pictogram carries no fixed wording, it is commonly supplied as a durable blank panel alongside a separate adhesive text strip, letting a safety officer finalise the exact instruction on site rather than waiting on a custom print order from a supplier. This approach also makes it easy to relabel or repurpose a general prohibition sign as operational needs change, for example moving it from a temporary maintenance exclusion zone to a new restricted storage area once the original task is complete. Keeping a small stock of blank panels and text strips on board or at a shore facility means a new restriction can be posted within minutes of being identified, rather than waiting days for a bespoke sign to arrive.

The design of this general prohibition sign follows the ISO 7010 pictogram conventions detailed on the ISO website, and its colour, proportions and border comply with AS 1319, the Australian Standard governing safety sign design. Because it is ordered by a fixed IMPA or ISSA code, a chief officer or facilities manager can reliably request the same sign again in future, confident that the replacement will match the original in size, material and finish. Safety officers reviewing a vessel’s overall signage plan often keep a short log of every location where a blank panel has been fitted along with the wording applied, so that the reason for each restriction remains clear to future crew even after the original circumstances have been forgotten. For any operation that regularly encounters restrictions not covered by an existing ISO 7010 symbol, keeping a stock of this general prohibition sign on hand, ready for a supplementary text panel, is a practical and cost-effective way to maintain clear, compliant signage across a vessel or terminal site.