Content
What is Emergency Lighting?
Emergency Lighting is a general self-descriptive term; it literally means lighting for an emergency. The emergency could be as a result of a failure or break in normal lighting supplies resulting in sudden darkness and impending hazard either through physical danger or panic or it could be caused by fire when it is essential to identify fire exits to the building and quickly locate fire extinguishers.
Illumination is required to be automatic and of a sufficient level to enable safe evacuation of the premises by people of all ages.
Emergency Lighting is one of the Life Safety Systems required to be provided, where necessary, in premises where people are employed.
Legal Requirements
The Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 require where necessary:
"Emergency routes and exits must be indicated by signs and emergency routes and exits requiring illumination shall be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity in the case of failure of their normal lighting.”
The amendments to the regulations in 1999, together with the subsequent deregulation of some premises previously covered by Fire certificates has led to the requirement to carry out Emergency Lighting risk assessments of many premises.
Surveys and inspections should be carried out to comply with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Fire Alarm Standard BS 5839-1:2017 and also to meet the Equality Act 2010 requirements specified in BS 8300.
Emergency Lighting is covered by a series of interdependent standards the base guidance document being The British Standard BS 5266-1: 2016. This is the Code of Practice for Emergency Lighting compliance to this standard is a requirement of various Government documents such as the Building Regulations.
The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations require that:
‘Permanent signboards must be used to indicate the location and direction of emergency escape routes… ….and clarifies:
What Actually Constitutes Emergency Lighting?
If artificial lighting is installed in the workplace then some form of Emergency Lighting is likely to be mandatory. It will automatically come on when the normal lighting provision fails. It is sub-divided into emergency escape lighting and standby lighting.
Emergency escape lighting – sub-divided into escape route lighting, open area lighting and high risk task area lighting - is that part of an Emergency Lighting system that provides illumination for the safety of people leaving a location. It is part of the fire safety provision of a building and a requirement of The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Standby lighting– is that part of an Emergency Lighting system provided to enable normal activities to continue substantially unchanged. Standby lighting is not a legal requirement and depending on the use or occupancy of the building may or may not be needed.
Do I Need to Do a Risk Assessment?
Owners/occupiers of all premises where people are employed are required to carry out fire precaution risk assessments, even in premises which have a current fire certificate.
For premises where 5 or more persons are employed, Duty Holders are required by law to document all significant findings together with details of measures taken to deal with the identified risks.
If you employ less than 5 persons there is still a requirement to carry out the risk assessment but it may not need to be formally recorded.
Emergency Lighting is installed to facilitate the evacuation of premises in case of emergency. The effectiveness of the escape can be significantly improved by the provision of properly maintained compliant Emergency Lighting. This is why Emergency Lighting must form a part the overall fire precautions risk assessment.
- A comprehensive fire precautions risk assessment should be carried out prior to the Emergency Lighting risk assessment
- The risk assessment should define the requirement for Emergency Lighting, its type and location
- Emergency Lighting risk assessment enables assessment of the current installations for compliance with recently introduced legislative requirements
In order to promote a user friendly standard approach to Emergency Lighting risk assessment, the Industry Committee for Emergency Lighting (ICEL) has developed a risk assessment guide – ICEL 1008.
Our Emergency Lighting and Signage Were Fitted a While Ago - Do I need to Do Anything?
Regrettably, Emergency Lighting has often been regarded as a “fit and forget” product. As with all electrical systems regular maintenance is a must!
The implications of failure of the Emergency Lighting could be catastrophic and in the event of an incident a neglected un-maintained non-compliant system could result in prosecution under the Health and Safety Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 (1999). In addition insurance cover of premises may also be affected if Emergency Lighting systems are not correctly maintained.
In short, all Emergency Lighting systems are required to have regular testing and inspection to ensure correct operation when most needed in an emergency.
What General Maintenance is Necessary?
All Emergency Lighting installations should be provided with a method of testing. This is usually by means of a test switch that simulates failure of the normal lighting supply. In accordance with the requirement standards some Emergency Lighting manufacturers provide automatic test systems.
The results of all testing and any identified corrective action must be recorded in a log book held on site available for inspection by any authorised person.
I am the Duty Holder; What can CGE do to help?
As Duty Holder you have an obligation to test and maintain the Emergency Lighting in your premises.
CGE are conversant with the extensive interdependent British and European Standards and tranches of legislation that govern and support the provision and maintenance of Emergency Lighting systems. To ensure compliance with all relevant legislation including Health and Safety Fire regulations and to maintain your system in accordance with the stringent specifications of insurance companies we offer a comprehensive range of testing and assessment services. Including:
- Battery discharge test and standby battery charge life
- Lumen level output assessment and coverage
- Functionality and position of illuminated signage
- Identify and confirm compliance of
- i. all maintained and non-maintained Emergency Lighting
- ii. position and operation of all test key switches
- Compatibility with BS requirements and compliance with current legislation
- Log book updating
- Identification and recording of all system failures
- Affix test labels with component number and inspection date
- Issue a Certificate of Emergency Lighting Test and Report.
