The Look Up Look Out Triangle: Awareness, Not Approval
Updated on 4 July 2026
Industry guidance for manufacturers, retailers, distributors and suppliers
The Look Up Look Out triangle exists for one clear purpose:
To help save lives by reminding the operator to look up, look out, and think about overhead electrical hazards before raising or extending a pole.
It is an awareness symbol.
It is a warning prompt.
It is a last-second reminder at the point of use.
It is not a product approval mark.
The campaign actively encourages manufacturers, retailers, distributors and suppliers to use the Look Up Look Out triangle responsibly and visibly because the warning may be seen at the exact moment it matters most.
Before the pole goes up, the operator should be reminded to look up.
That simple pause could save a life.
Download campaign logo From the Home Page
Why this matters
Overhead electrical hazards can cause catastrophic injury or death.
In some cases, contact with the power line is not needed. Electricity can arc across a gap if the conditions allow it.
That is why awareness at the point of use matters so much.
A warning seen in a catalogue is useful.
A warning read in an instruction sheet is useful.
A warning on a website is useful.
But a warning seen on the pole itself, just before the operator raises it, may be the most powerful reminder of all.
The Look Up Look Out triangle is designed to act like a road warning sign.
A road warning sign does not approve the car.
It does not certify the driver.
It does not guarantee the road is safe.
It warns the person before they reach the danger.
That is what the Look Up Look Out triangle is intended to do.
A human responsibility
This campaign asks the industry to look at the issue not only as manufacturers, retailers, distributors or suppliers, but as people.
Everyone has someone they care about.
Everyone would want their own family member, friend, colleague or loved one to be warned clearly before using a long pole near overhead electrical hazards.
If a simple warning symbol on the pole could make someone pause, look up and stop before raising it into danger, then that warning matters.
The Look Up Look Out triangle may be the final reminder before the operator releases the clamp and extends the pole.
It may be the last visual prompt before a life-changing or fatal incident.
That is why the campaign encourages every responsible manufacturer, retailer, distributor and supplier to use it.
Not because it proves the product is approved.
Not because it proves the product is insulated.
Not because it gives the product a higher standard, ranking or endorsement.
But because it puts a clear warning directly in front of the person who needs to see it.
A manufacturer may never know whose life that warning helped save.
A retailer may never hear about the accident that did not happen.
A distributor may never meet the person who looked up because the triangle reminded them to.
But that is exactly why it matters.
The best safety warning is often the one that prevents the story from ever being written.
Using the Look Up Look Out triangle is a small action.
It costs little.
It takes little space.
But at the right moment, in the right place, it could make all the difference.
This is not about blame.
It is about responsibility.
It is about awareness.
It is about doing the right thing before another family is changed forever.
What the triangle represents
The Look Up Look Out triangle represents the campaign’s central safety message:
Before you raise a pole, look up and look out.
The logo is intended to act as a visual warning reminder to anyone using a water-fed pole, gutter vacuum pole, inspection pole, camera pole, solar cleaning pole, roof cleaning pole or any other extendable pole system.
When placed on a pole, especially near the handle, clamp or lower working section, the triangle may be the last thing the operator sees before releasing the clamp and raising the pole.
That moment matters.
The triangle is not there for decoration.
It is there to make someone stop, think, check their surroundings and avoid danger.
A simple visual reminder may make someone pause, look up, spot overhead power lines, reassess the work area, and stop before a serious or fatal incident occurs.
That is the purpose of the logo.
What the triangle does not mean
Using the Look Up Look Out triangle on a product, pole, website, catalogue, advert, packaging or instruction sheet does not mean that Look Up Look Out has approved, tested, certified, endorsed or recommended that product.
It does not mean the product is electrically insulated.
It does not mean the product has one insulated section.
It does not mean the product has two insulated sections.
It does not mean the product has passed any particular electrical test.
It does not mean the product meets any particular British, European or international standard.
It does not mean the product is safer than another product.
It does not mean the campaign has checked the manufacturer’s claims.
The triangle is not a quality mark, certification mark, approval badge, accreditation logo, product ranking symbol or commercial endorsement.
It is not the equivalent of a food assurance mark, kite mark, test certificate, conformity mark or product standard.
It means one thing only:
Look up. Look out. Think before raising the pole.
Why the industry is encouraged to use it
Look Up Look Out actively encourages responsible manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and distributors to download the official campaign logo from the Look Up Look Out homepage and use it on suitable products, packaging, product pages, catalogues, instruction sheets and safety information.
This is not about gaining approval from the campaign.
It is about helping to put a clear safety warning directly in front of the person using the pole.
Manufacturers and retailers are in a powerful position.
They decide what appears on the product.
They decide what appears on the packaging.
They decide what appears on the website.
They decide what appears in the instructions.
By choosing to display the Look Up Look Out triangle clearly, they can help place a potentially life-saving reminder directly into the hands of the operator.
That is responsible industry behaviour.
The more often operators see the same warning message, the more likely it is to become part of normal working behaviour.
That is how awareness grows.
That is how safety culture improves.
That is how lives may be saved.
A responsible use of the logo
A responsible use of the Look Up Look Out triangle would be to place it where the operator is likely to see it before raising or extending the pole.
For example:
- on the lower section of the pole;
- close to the handle area;
- near the first clamp or main operating point;
- on product packaging;
- on instruction sheets;
- on product webpages;
- in training material;
- in safety guidance supplied with the product;
- in catalogues, brochures or sales material where pole safety is discussed.
Where space allows, manufacturers and suppliers should consider using wording such as:
Look Up Look Out – overhead power lines can kill. Check above before raising this pole.
Or:
Safety awareness reminder only. This logo is not product certification, approval or endorsement.
The aim is simple:
Put the warning where it can do the most good.
Avoiding misuse or misunderstanding
The campaign welcomes responsible use of the logo, but it must not be used in a way that misleads customers or operators.
Manufacturers, retailers and distributors should not describe the logo as proof that a pole is approved, certified, tested, insulated, compliant or endorsed by Look Up Look Out.
The logo should not be used to suggest that a product has been independently verified by the campaign.
The logo should not be used as a substitute for clear technical evidence, Certificates of Conformity, electrical test reports, safety warnings, user instructions or proper risk assessment information.
If a product has insulation claims, voltage claims, dielectric claims, conformity claims or safety testing claims, those claims should be supported separately with clear evidence.
The triangle does not replace that responsibility.
The logo is there to support awareness.
The evidence must still support the product claims.
Products with different safety levels may still carry the triangle
A pole carrying the Look Up Look Out triangle may be:
- a pole with no declared insulation;
- a pole with one insulated section;
- a pole with two insulated sections;
- a pole with multiple insulated sections;
- a pole with published electrical testing evidence;
- a pole with no published electrical testing evidence.
That is why the meaning of the logo must be understood clearly.
The triangle is not there to rate the product.
It is there to warn the person.
The campaign can still encourage the use of the logo while separately reviewing product claims, published evidence, insulation information, test transparency and safety wording.
Those are different issues.
The logo is awareness.
Testing evidence is evidence.
A product claim is a claim.
A Certificate of Conformity is a document.
A standard is a standard.
They must not be confused.
The campaign position
Look Up Look Out is an electrical safety awareness campaign.
It is not a certification body.
It is not a test laboratory.
It is not a product approval scheme.
It is not a trade association.
It is not a commercial endorsement platform.
The campaign’s aim is to improve awareness, encourage clearer safety information, support better decision-making and help prevent further serious incidents involving extendable poles and overhead electrical hazards.
The campaign supports manufacturers and suppliers who take public safety seriously.
Using the triangle responsibly is one simple way the industry can help.
Clear claims, clear evidence, safer choices
The campaign encourages the whole industry to move towards clearer claims, clearer evidence and safer choices.
If a manufacturer claims a pole is insulated, electrically tested or suitable for work where electrical hazards may exist, that claim should be explained clearly and supported with appropriate evidence.
If a manufacturer uses the Look Up Look Out logo, that should be understood as a safety awareness prompt only.
Both things can sit side by side, but they are not the same.
A product may carry the triangle because the manufacturer supports awareness.
A product may rank highly in a campaign review because it has stronger published safety evidence.
Those are separate matters.
Awareness should be encouraged.
Evidence should be published.
Claims should be clear.
Operators should be protected.
A simple industry request
Look Up Look Out asks manufacturers, retailers, distributors and suppliers to support the campaign by using the triangle responsibly and visibly.
Please place the logo where operators will see it before raising or extending the pole.
Please include it in product information where appropriate.
Please help make “Look Up Look Out” a normal part of pole safety culture.
Please do not present the logo as approval, certification or endorsement.
Please help the person holding the pole remember the one message that matters before the pole goes up:
Look up. Look out.
The triangle may only take a second to notice.
That second could save a life