When it comes to an emergency, preparedness is highly essential. One vital aspect of preparedness you must do is ensuring that the emergency lighting in your property is in good working order.
With the absence of electricity, there’s more risk of danger and panic during an emergency. Thus, having the right lighting system for your property should be a priority.
In today’s post, we’ll discuss emergency lighting and the important items you must remember when it comes to testing, inspection, maintenance, and code compliance.
At Texas Fire and Safety, we have qualified and experienced technicians who will perform a comprehensive assessment of your property. We can make expert fire safety system recommendations, specific to the needs of your property.
To know more about exit signs, emergency lighting, fire extinguishers, and fire suppression systems and how they can adequately protect your building, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Emergency lights also referred to as egress lighting, are specialized lighting systems used in the event of a power outage. Power failure, as the name suggests, is when the power supply is cut off. They are a requirement in all commercial properties.
These lights are battery operated. They are automatically activated to give off the right amount illumination when there’s no power supply in the building anymore.
Some examples of scenarios that result in a power failure are fire emergencies, earthquakes, severe thunderstorms, and other calamities.
During these events, no electricity can lead to more panic and danger.
During an emergency, time is of the essence. You will need to vacate a building quickly. Emergency lights help in the quick and safe evacuation.
Office buildings, retail stores, restaurants, and other commercial buildings are required by law to have sufficient emergency lighting systems. The lighting systems must have power supply either from a nearby generator or a battery backup.
Commercial property owners must abide by the code that the National Fire Protection Association has set. Failure to do so may result in penalties or cease in operations.
NFPA 101 details the essential guidelines for egress lighting. The section indicates that all emergency lights must be capable of providing illumination for the area it is covering for a minimum of 90 minutes – right after electricity is cut off.
When it comes to brightness levels, commercial emergency lights must not fall below 6.5 lux at any point during the hour and a half mark. On top of that, the uniformity ratio must not go over 40:1.
A professional and experienced emergency lighting provider will know all of these essential details. They are certified to follow the guidelines NFPA has set to ensure that your building complies.
Many accidents happen at home. When there’s no electricity, the chances of someone in your home getting into an accident is increased.
Whatever the cause is of a power failure in your home – whether it’s poor weather conditions, short circuit, falling trees or branches, a disrupted power supply is not ideal, especially if you have elderly, children, or pets living with you.
Some may not be aware that flashlights and battery-powered lanterns are good examples of emergency lighting used for the home. We recommend you get one flashlight for every member of your household.
You must also ensure that there are extra batteries available when the old ones are not good anymore. Emergency lights such as lanterns and flashlights must be readily accessible.
Keep a flashlight and a set of batteries per room, this includes the kitchen and bathrooms. Make sure that you test the lighting devices regularly. Replace the batteries if they are not working.