Emergency Lighting Explained

Emergency lighting in the UK has become compulsory for many businesses and organisations. It is provided so that, if the mains power fails in an emergency situation, people in the building can safely evacuate it and avoid panic. This might be the case if fire breaks out or if the building is plunged into darkness due to power failure caused by something external such as storm damage.

Most newly built business premises have emergency lighting installed as standard. However, older premises often need to have it added, especially if the building has changed in use.

Emergency lighting equipment must conform to BS 5366 Part 1:2011 standards, although it should be noted that these are minimum standards and may need adjusting depending on the building in question. Organisations that are required to provide emergency lighting by law include: hospitals and nursing homes, hotels, clubs and liscensed premises, offices, museums, shops and schools and colleges amongst others. Standfast Security Systems is experienced at working within these sectors and is happy to design emergency lighting systems either as a standalone product or as part of a fire alarm system. This can be done in consultation with your responsible person (as named on your Fire Policy) as part of your Fire Risk Assessment.

Two Types of Emergency Lighting

Emergency lighting can be split into two groups:

Emergency escape lighting
Standby Lighting

Emergency Escape Lighting

This type of lighting is mandatory in many organisations. It provides illumination to allow people to safely vacate a building or finish a task before doing so themselves (e.g. shut down of dangerous plant).

Emergency escape lighting consists of three different sorts of lighting

1. Escape route lighting - that illuminates the means of escape from the building so that exit routes can be safely used in an emergency. This might consist of lighting above doorways and stair wells or lighting set into the steps and floors to light the route to the exit points or fire doors.
2. Open area lighting - is provided in areas where people are living or working. It is switched on automatically if the mains power fails and helps to keep people calm as they identify the best route out of the building.
3. High risk task lighting - is for those people working in potentially dangerous situations or who carry out dangerous processes. It allows them to complete proper shut down where necessary so that other occupants of the building are protected before making their own escape safely.

Standby Lighting

Standby lighting is simply back up lighting, installed so that normal operations can be continued should the mains supply fail. It is not legally required however, so is only provided should it be deemed necessary by business owners and managers.

Emergency Lighting Maintenance

Standfast Security Systems don’t just design and build emergency lighting schemes. We also maintain them. It is a mistake to think that once the emergency lighting is installed, its all taken care of. Regular testing and inspection is necessary to ensure that it remains in good working order so that it operates correctly in an emergency and does the job of saving the occupants of the building.

BS 5266 and EN 50172 define the detailed requirements for inspection and testing. The daily, monthly and six monthly check can usually be carried out by the named responsible person. Standfast Security Systems provide competent service engineers to carry out an annual full system test of emergency lighting and fire alarm systems.

For more information about emergency lighting or fire alarm systems for your business or organisation, please contact us on 0117 942 3366 or fill in our form and we’ll get back to you within one business day.