However, in the case of a fire, the power to these lights often failed or were barely visible, rendering them useless for their important job. Early exit signs were made of either metal and lit by a nearby incandescent light bulb or having a white glass cover with 'EXIT' written in red, placed directly in front of a single-bulb light fixture. A huge fire in a downtown Manhattan garment factory killed 146 workers, which sparked NFPA to act on creating a way to get people out of buildings quicker. In the United States, it all started in 1911. Should your building consider implementing the Running Man exit signs?įirst, a brief history of exit signs is needed in order to understand how they have evolved and where we are at today. But what about the rest of the world? Internationally, many countries have adopted some version of the ISO standard, a symbol deemed the 'Running Man exit sign'. We see these bright signs hovering over doors and corridors within America's buildings, directing us to safety.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) went on to create criteria for emergency-exit signage, taking into consideration various contrast levels and evaluating different lettering sizes, eventually publishing the standards adopted by state and local governments across the states. The one that has been around since 1911 and spells out the word 'EXIT' in bright red lettering. We're all aware of the classic American emergency exit sign.