Emergency Lighting Maintenance Checks: Importance & Process
Emergency lighting maintenance checks that if the lighting in your building stops working, your back-up lighting still works.
Emergency lighting maintenance checks for safety
Emergency lighting may be triggered due to the outbreak of a fire or damage to the main lighting systems. Whatever the reason may be, your emergency lighting should kick into action and function to effectively lead people to safety.
Having clear, visible and working emergency lights means that your customers or clients can feel reassured about your company’s safety practices. It minimises the panic of people in the building and shows that your company cares about fire safety.
Suitable lighting also means that occupants are able to follow directions to find their way out of the building and avoid encountering obstacles. Illuminated escape routes allow people to exit more easily and, if needed, access fire safety equipment (such as extinguishers or fire blankets).
Emergency lighting maintenance for legal compliance
Although emergency lighting maintenance may just seem like a good idea to some, it is actually a legal requirement. Therefore, your business should be particularly aware of sticking to these regulations.
Being a lawful requirement, The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 states that “emergency routes and exits requiring illumination must be provided with emergency lighting of adequate intensity”. If normal lighting fails, emergency lighting acts as an additional safety measure.
TF Installations complies with the regulations set by the British Standard (specifically, BS5266-1:2016). Consequently, we make sure that all lighting installations we deal with also meet this high standard.
What happens during emergency lighting maintenance?
Emergency lighting should be activated at least once a month. Having regular emergency lighting maintenance checks means that if a problem does arise, you’ll be able to deal with it quickly and easily.
Additionally, every year, your emergency lighting systems should be discharged by a professional. This allows a full and thorough check of your emergency lighting installations to take place.
During your emergency lighting maintenance, a number of things will happen:
- Emergency lighting activation: Your main electricity supply will be manually switched off to activate your emergency lighting. This may be done with a key switch or by cutting out power from the distribution board.
- Inspection: Our engineers will walk around the premises to physically inspect each luminaire individually. They will check that the lights are in good general condition and there are no faults with the system.
- Check the positions of the luminations: The positioning of your emergency lights can partly depend on the type of building you have, its use, and its layout. Our experts can advise as to whether additional lights are needed and where lights are best placed.
- Check the duration of the lumination: During annual emergency lighting maintenance, our engineers will activate the emergency lights for a prolonged period. This ensures that your lights are working for the duration they should be. Depending on the lights you have, this can range from 60 minutes to 3 hours.
- Check the duration of the lumination: This is sometimes better done in earlier in the morning or early in the evening. It is important to see that emergency lighting not only lasts for the required amount of time, but is also bright enough to be seen.
- Check the charging: Before our engineers leave your premises they will check that your lights charge properly after being turned back off.
- Fix any problems: TF Installation specialists travel with batteries and light fittings so that we can immediately deal with any issues we find. In more complex cases, we can arrange a time to come back to resolve specific problems.
- Complete maintenance records: You should be keeping a log book of your emergency lighting maintenance checks. This should have a record of at least the past 3 years worth of checks. It proves that you have been proactive and have fulfilled your legal requirement.
Do I need to book an emergency lighting maintenance appointment?
There should be a designated person responsible for all fire safety maintenance in a building or company. This person should know when you last had your emergency lighting checked and when the next check is due.
Having both monthly maintenance and in-depth annual reviews is paramount for keeping people out of harm’s way. It is in the best interests of yourself and those around you to be committed to organising routine emergency lighting maintenance inspections.
With the professional checks performed by TF Installations, you can feel confident that you have the best safety measures in place. Our operatives test your lighting to ensure that it works, troubleshoot any problems they come across, and rectify any issues so that you are kept safe.
Emergency lighting maintenance from TF Installations
Knowing that your lighting is safe, suitable, well-positioned and working means that you are as prepared as you can be in an emergency. Emergency lighting maintenance checks are one of the specialities of TF Installations. As well as the experience and knowledge that we have gained after many years in the industry, we always offer our customers the best service and support.
Book an appointment for your emergency lighting maintenance today and get the help of our fire safety installation experts.
