Impact of Different Colours

Introduction
The objective of laying out a flare pattern is to encourage the person encountering the devices to react in a controlled and predictable fashion.

The EflareTM can be used to:

• Alert people to the presence of a dangerous or hazardous situation
• Guide them to a safe area

Thus the device needs to stand out from the surroundings with an attention catching appearance. This can be achieved from the colour, flash rate, size, location, movement or appearance of the EflareTM.

Perception of Colours

Warning device colours
Warning device colours are uniformly defined across a number of standards and as a result the critical colours are easily and widely recognized. The drawback being that light source spectra are not always matched to the specified colours. This changes the efficiency of the source and results in changes in the apparent brightness of a given source depending upon the lens colour.

As warning devices they need to:

• Be associated with "urgency", "warning", "hazard" in the observer's mind
• Be light emitting
• Present a pulsed, attention getting appearance
• Show colours associated with hazard warnings
• Be easily distinguished from the background
• Be recognized as a warning or location device by virtue of their appearance and location

Standard Colours

As well as Blue, Crystalline White and Infra-Red Black, there are three standard colours. These colours are internationally standardized and are referred to as: Trans-Red, Trans-Amber and Trans-Green (Traffic lantern colours).

The Crystalline White is a clear lens providing an intense white light.

The Infra-Red Black filters out wavelengths shorter than 600nm, and has no observable visible light output.

Applications

Trans-Red used for:

• Marking out hazardous areas at accident sites
• Defining restricted areas on airfields and helicopter landing zones (HLZ)
• Road blocks and limited access areas
• Protection zones for emergency crews

Trans-Amber used for:

• Marking out construction sites on roads
• Identifying utilities installation and repair sites
• Unsafe areas on construction sites, road barriers
• Marine distress situations
• Trail marking

Trans-Green used for:

• Command posts for emergency services
• Trail marking

Blue used for:

• Approach lights for helicopter landing zones (HLZ)
• Marking out hazardous areas at accident sites
• Protection zones for emergency crews

Crystalline White used for:

• Boundary lights for helicopter landing zones (HLZ)
• Diver identification and location

Infra-Red Black used for:

• Boundary lights for covert helicopter landing zones (HLZ)
• "Concealed" trail marking
• Covert identification of personnel
• Marking survey datum points in populated areas