ISO 22578:2022

Overview

ISO 22578:2022 defines principles for a natural disaster safety way guidance system - the signs, plans and mounting practices that guide people from outdoor locations to safe areas or places of refuge during natural disasters (for example tsunamis, floods, debris flows, landslides, tornados, large fires and volcanic activity). The standard covers selection and application of safety signs (ISO 7010), public information symbols (ISO 7001) and evacuation text, plus guidance on sign design, location, mounting and maintenance. It applies to outdoor guidance to safe areas (not to in‑building emergency exits, which are covered by ISO 16069), and does not determine whether a system is required.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Sign selection and symbol use: Requires registered safety signs from ISO 7010 and compatible public information symbols from ISO 7001. Supplementary signs and combination signs must follow ISO 3864‑1 design rules.
• Sign types: Defines use of warning signs, evacuation route signs, evacuation plan signs and place‑of‑refuge signs tailored to specific natural hazards.
• Materials and visibility: Permits ordinary and phosphorescent materials; signs must meet the colorimetric and photometric specifications in ISO 3864‑4 for reliable daytime and night‑time legibility.
• Design and legibility: Guidance on sizing, distance factors, symbol contrast, bilingual text and identifiability under different illumination conditions to ensure comprehension by residents and visitors (including non‑local language users).
• System planning: Recommends mapping hazard zones, refuge locations and accessible routes, plus integrating rescue facilities, emergency communications and relevant local hazard information.
• Installation, mounting and maintenance: Specifies positioning, mounting heights, durability and inspection/repair activities to keep the safety way guidance system effective over time.
• Scope boundaries: Does not cover the risk assessment that establishes the need for guidance systems and excludes some hazard types (e.g., high winds, snow avalanches, earthquakes and hurricanes as causes).

Applications

ISO 22578 is directly applicable to:

• Coastal and riverside communities (tsunami and flood evacuation routes)
• Municipal planners and civil protection authorities designing public evacuation networks
• Architects and landscape designers integrating outdoor evacuation signage into built and natural environments
• Sign manufacturers and installers producing ISO‑compliant evacuation signs and phosphorescent panels
• Tourist destinations, ports, parks and transportation hubs that need standardized, multilingual evacuation wayfinding

Practical use cases include creating evacuation route maps, marking outdoor refuge areas, deploying consistent tsunami/flood signage, and planning maintenance schedules to ensure 24/7 legibility.

Who should use this standard

• Emergency managers and civil protection agencies
• Urban planners and local authorities
• Sign designers, manufacturers and installers
• Architects, landscape architects and infrastructure owners
• NGOs and consultants involved in disaster risk reduction

Related standards

• ISO 7010 - Registered safety signs
• ISO 7001 - Public information symbols
• ISO 3864‑1/3/4 - Design principles and colour/photometric requirements
• ISO 16069 - Safety way guidance within buildings

Keywords: ISO 22578:2022, natural disaster safety way guidance system, evacuation route signs, ISO 7010, ISO 7001, safety signs, evacuation plan, places of refuge, signage installation, phosphorescent signs.