Getting emergency lighting right LIGHTING & LIGHTING CONTROLS
To get an emergency lighting specification right and help the responsible person meet their legal obligations, there are many factors that you need to consider. Anthony Martindale, product manager at Collingwood Lighting advises
U
nder the Building Safety Act the “responsible person,” whether that is you, the owner or facilities manager, is legally responsible for fire safety and protecting the lives of
the people inside. The cost of getting it wrong can be a six-figure fine or prison. Whether it is due to fire or another emergency, occupants, who may be unfamiliar with a building need clear lighting and signposting for both emergency equipment and to get to a place of safety. And if there is a power failure then this lighting is critical to reduce panic and save lives.
Who uses the building?
Exactly what emergency lighting you specify will depend on a thorough risk assessment that considers the type of building, the people likely to be in it, and what they use it for. It will be up to you to advise the “responsible person” on the best solution.
As part of the risk assessment, you must consider who uses the building and how familiar they are with its layout. When planning escape routes think about people with impairments. Mobility problems may mean it takes them longer to get to safety and poor eyesight makes it harder to identify signage. Think about where you will place emergency lighting and consider higher illumination.
If the public use the building, then they may be unfamiliar with its layout, and an emergency could cause panic. If this is the case, you should specify maintained or always on exit signs. There are also times and places when occupants are less aware, for example in an entertainment venue or if they are asleep in a hotel. In these instances, they will respond slowly to an emergency, so any signage and escape routes need to be more clearly lit.
Stopping a task safely
Next consider what tasks people are doing inside and ensure that they can stop them safely in an emergency?
For an office, a shop, or a general circulation
area you may only you may only need escape and anti-panic lighting with low illumination levels. If people are using control panels you should light both this and the task so that they can stop the process and safely leave the area. This might include warehouses, kitchens, first aid areas and light industrial areas. And where people are doing high-risk tasks or which take time to stop, you will need to provide full illumination in an emergency. Examples include foundries, hospital operating theatres, and airport control towers.
How easy is it to evacuate?
The size and complexity of a building can make evacuation harder.
High rise buildings, defined as at least seven
storeys or with a height of greater than 18 metres, are an obvious example. It will take longer for people to safely leave the premises, especially if they are asleep when the emergency happens. This means the emergency lighting should stay on for longer and you will need to provide higher illumination levels.
Older buildings often do not meet current
regulations. They may not have enough escape routes, and they might not be wide enough. They may also contain materials that are flammable or produce smoke and/or toxins in a fire. To help reduce panic, you will need to specify higher illuminations levels that are on for longer.
And while buildings may not be dangerous, they could still pose a risk if there are a large number of people inside, such as in a stadium or theatre. If people need to evacuate there could be panic and crushing. Make sure that you specify maintained exit signs to clearly direct people so that they can leave safely.
Designing a compliant system
Having worked through the risk assessment with the “responsible person” there are a number of standards to ensure that you specify a fit for purpose emergency lighting system. EN50172 states that emergency lighting must achieve three things; it should clearly identify escape routes, provide illumination for safe movement towards and through exits and ensure that fire alarms and firefighting equipment are easily located. Every emergency lighting design must position luminaires to show specific hazards and highlight
Maintained emergency lighting
Maintained emergency fitting can be turned on or off when the mains power is on, so they can operate when occupants need either normal or emergency lighting.
Non maintained fittings
Non-maintained emergency luminaires only switch on when a building’s power fails.
safety equipment. Collectively these are known as points of interest and include; each change of direction, where corridors meet, near stairs or changes of floor level so that each tread gets direct light, at designated exits and outside to a place of safety, and near first aid posts and firefighting equipment.
After lighting the points of emphasis, you must add further lighting to ensure a minimum illuminance of escape routes. You must also specify at least two emergency luminaires in every escape route compartment in case one fails, and it must provide a minimum of 1 lux at floor level. For open areas, which are bigger than 60m2, or if or if it has an escape route passing through it, you must provide enough emergency lighting to achieve a minimum of 0.5 lux at ground level. But you only need to do this in the central core area and not worry about the area that is 0.5m from the perimeter as people don’t tend to move through this space.
High risk locations
For higher risk areas, such as production lines or control rooms, EN 1838:2013 states that the maintained illuminance on the reference plane must be not less than 10% of the required illuminance for that task and should never be less than 15 lux. This means you need a higher output, possibly by converting some of your mains lighting to provide additional emergency lighting. The Building Safety Act highlights the importance of fire safety. It means that emergency lighting must be based on a through risk assessment and be fit for purpose. Make sure you help the “responsible person” get it right to meet their legal obligations.
Collingwood Lighting has produced “A Specifiers and Installers Guide to Emergency Lighting” –
https://online.flippingbook.com/ view/332309465/18/
24 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER NOVEMBER 2025
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