What is Emergency Lighting and How does it work?

Emergency lighting is a very important feature in a wide range of environments. In fact, the law in the UK states that all occupied buildings must be fitted with emergency lighting to ensure the safety of everyone in the building.

The requirement for emergency lighting comes under Fire Precautions Regulations 1997 & BS5266 in part one for the workplace. As stated, building owners must have luminaries in place and are required to test their emergency lighting regularly to ensure that it is in full working order.

Emergency lighting for an escape route

An escape route must be lit by at least one light during an emergency evacuation. In addition, if the escape route in your building is a corridor, it must be free of obstructions that could slow down the evacuation.

Emergency lighting for stairwells

Stairwells pose another risk during evacuations and in order to make these safe as possible, there must be a minimum of two emergency lights covering this area.

Emergency lighting for an open area

One emergency light must be used in open areas. However, in cases where the open area does not exceed sixty square meters, emergency lighting will not be required. It is still to be noted that emergency exit doors will still be required to have emergency lighting above then in order to guide users out of the building accordingly.

Type of emergency lighting

Two of the most common types of emergency lighting are maintained and non-maintained, however, there are also several other types that you may choose for your workplace.

Maintained lights are controlled the same as all other lights in the building. When power fails, these lights will still work but at a lower lux level.

Non-maintained light will generally be switched off, but their LED display should state that they are full charged. Should a power cut occur, a fitting connected to the lights will turn the battery supply on.

Other examples of emergency lighting, include combined lights, combined self-contained lights and satellite emergency lights.

DRF Electrical

Here at DRF Electrical, our dedicated team are fully qualified to carry out fire alarm and emergency lighting installation and replacement.

Manufacturer’s instructions are provided along with operations training to the end user. Log books for the Fire Alarm and Emergency Lighting are also provided.

To make an appointmet with us, please call 01132 578 212 or send your online enquiry here via our contact form