EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS
A SPOTLIGHT ON EVACUATION
Mohamed Hanslod, CEO of Bri-Tek Technologies, explores the regulations relating to emergency lighting and how new technologies are helping building operators ensure compliance and guarantee the safety of residents.
Implementing a robust and reliable lighting system has never been more important, with the tragic events of recent years, including the Grenfell Tower fire, further bringing the importance of emergency illumination into focus.
“UNDER THE
REVISED STANDARD, THE RESPONSIBILITY HAS BEEN PLACED ON DESIGNERS TO
INSTALL ADEQUATE EMERGENCY
LIGHTING FOR OCCUPANTS.”
The long-awaited revision to the Emergency Lighting Code of Practice BS5266:1 2016, issued in May 2016, has only compounded the necessity for sufficient emergency lighting in a range of buildings including hotels, social housing blocks, schools and colleges, care homes, hospitals, licensed premises, offices, museums, shops and multi-storey dwellings.
The new standard calls for a more nuanced approach to emergency lighting design. Under the revised standard, the responsibility has been placed on designers to install adequate emergency lighting for occupants, should the decision be made that people can stay on site during a light outage.
Sufficient ‘stay put’ lighting, of one lux minimum, must be provided at all times in areas of a building that people will move through.
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The minimum illuminance figure for escape routes has also been increased to one lux from 0.2 lux previously, in line with European requirements.
Although the regulations – which also require emergency lighting to be checked on a regular basis and results to be logged by the person responsible for the building – have been widely accepted as a step in the right direction for emergency lighting, especially in large, densely populated buildings, they have also brought a new unique set of challenges for both health and safety managers and estate managers alike.
Understandably, the inadequate management of emergency lighting systems, as well as the failure to meet installation standards and undertake urgent remedial works can have disastrous consequences for both residents and building owners. Estate managers, therefore, are continuously on the lookout for new technologies to provide not only the required level of performance and legislative compliance, but also ensure the safety of all residents during emergency evacuations.
A NEW ERA FOR
EMERGENCY LIGHTING As with most lighting products, advances in the technology have seen emergency lighting undergo a significant shift in recent years; particularly in relation to the use of LED luminaires, automated testing and the emergence of wireless control technologies. One area that has perhaps been less well documented, however, is the advent of state-of-the-art battery technologies.
All emergency lighting systems are designed to come into operation
when traditional light sources fail, typically during power outages. Such systems, therefore, necessitate a very flexible and reliable battery to guarantee they will keep running at the light levels required under new emergency lighting standards, often for long periods of time during building evacuations.
New emergency lighting systems, such as Bri-Tek Technologies’ innovative LED emergency battery, are helping to dramatically improve emergency evacuation procedures in large buildings.
Approved and tested by The Lighting Industry Association (LIA) test labs, the emergency battery back-up unit can provide power to any luminaire during outages, essentially offering the ability to convert any LED light within a building into emergency lighting during an evacuation procedure – powering the lamp for up to three hours from the built-in backup battery. Specifically designed for LED lighting as a maintained solution, the battery back-up can also work as a non-maintained solution for most types of light fittings including non-LED luminaires.
This offers a number of advantages, none more so than ensuring the desired level of performance is delivered by emergency luminaires and adequate illumination is provided for residents departing the premises.
Should any emergency occur, estate managers must have sufficient processes in place to ensure the safe evacuation of occupants. The integration of advanced emergency lighting technologies is helping to enhance existing systems, maximise safety and minimise disruption to building operations.
www.britektechnologies.com 53
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