Emergency Lighting Installation And Maintenance
As a business or as a landlord, you may think emergency lighting isn’t that important. Many people think ‘we’ll be fine we haven’t had an emergency in 20 years’. However, ideas like this could actually land you in jail as you must comply with the modern day health and safety rules as a business. Many businesses and landlords also make amendments to their building, such as adding an extra wall in or moving doors, and don’t consider the effect this could also have on the emergency lighting in your building. This is why emergency lighting installation and maintenance is a vital part of your building, for your employees or occupants safety in case of an emergency and also to comply within the rules of the law.
There are many simple risky mistakes that can be made regarding emergency lighting, such as:
• Allowing occupants or employees into the building before your emergency lighting has been fully charged – after a 3 hour testing regime.
• Failing to document a fire risk assessment which includes emergency lighting could also get you in trouble with the law.
• Once compliant emergency lights might no longer be under shifting regulations – maintenance and upkeep is key to sticking within the rules and regulations of emergency lighting.
• Failing to rearrange emergency lighting after refurbishments or furniture movements have been made that could disrupt the lighting.
The consequences of not abiding by these rules could be a large fine or a jail sentence, or BOTH. This may sound a little extensive for not following one of the rules but just imagine yourself in a situation where your fire alarm goes off at work and you start to make your way to the emergency exit, and then all of the lights go off, there is a power cut and you start to smell smoke and have no idea where you are going or how to get out. A mad panic! You would never want to be put in this situation so don’t let your employees or occupants get in this situation either, you can ensure all exits and corridors are fully lit and clear in case of an emergency.
This is why the rules and regulations regarding emergency lighting are so strict. Your emergency lighting has to be checked regularly, how often it should be checked and tested depends on what system you are using. Daily inspections apply only to systems with a single central backup battery or generator. A monthly inspection should be carried out on all emergency lighting to check all lights and signs are working properly, a written record should also be kept for this. Lastly, annual testing means once a year the emergency lighting system should undergo a test for the full duration as required under your building’s regulations, which can vary from one to three hours. A written record should be made of this investigation also and all emergency lighting should still be working by the end of the investigation.
Does this sound like too much to remember on top of all of your day to day responsibilities? Well why not call in the experts to do this for you and give you complete peace of mind. At TF Installations we can offer complete emergency lighting installation and maintenance, meaning not only can you be sure that your emergency lighting is fitted correctly and is compliant with the rules and regulations, but we can also offer a maintenance service to take away all of the worries of the risks mentioned previously. We are also up to date with the latest laws regarding emergency lighting and therefore everything can be left safely in our hands and you can ensure your employees and occupants full safety when it comes to emergency lighting. For more information on TF Installations and the other services we have on offer as well as emergency lighting installation and maintenance, feel free to get in touch.
