Just How Test Your Emergency Lighting

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All places of work are required to provide adequate ways of escape, and these routes and exits has to be properly covered by disaster lighting, so that they're just visible even in an electrical cut. In the GREAT BRITAIN these requirements come less than the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Arrangement 2005, which places a duty around the 'Responsible Person' to ensure these measures are in place.

The nature and also extent of emergency lighting effects will vary with diverse premises, and the time that the lighting is required to keep on for could always be between one and three hours. The basic function on this is so that there exists enough lighting to get everyone safely out from the building in an disaster, but the longer the lighting last better. In order to be sure that the lighting is performing properly and able to last as long as it needs to, the emergency lighting system must be tested regularly.

Some of the more modern systems will allow you to testing themselves, but many buildings will have elder emergency lighting which calls for manual testing. How this is done is based the system in position, but the usual method should be to use a special switch having a 'fishtail key' to result in the lighting.


The best way for you to organise your testing will be systematic about it and keep an exact record in a logbook. You ought to carry out different checks at regular intervals, daily, monthly, six monthly in addition to annually. Daily checking is endorsed for premises with retained lighting (emergency lights which stay on all the time). This just ought to be a visual check to confirm they are all being employed, and deal with any which might be not.

A monthly check should include cutting the electricity to all lighting, just to make certain all non-maintained bulbs (ones which only can happen in a power cut) are working. If you do not need a testing facility which includes a fish key, you are capable of doing this through your fuse box.

Every six months it is a good idea to cut the power for a minumum of one hour to ensure this batteries last long plenty of. At least once every year you should carry out a 'full discharge test' that involves cutting off the power and letting all the system discharge. It is preferable to buy a qualified electrical engineer to do this and check the whole system while doing so. When you carry out the complete discharge test, you should time this in order that your premises are not used for the following One day, as the batteries may all be drained along with the emergency lighting therefore not really working.


You should try a special form to record each time you carry out an evaluation. There are forms available online free that you just can download. The form should record the date in the test, the result of the test, any remedial action you might have taken, and a signature from the person carrying out test. Your local fire authority has the right to check whether you might be properly testing and preserving your emergency lighting procedure, so keeping a logbook with these records in may be very helpful when this particular happens.

Shenzhen Yuanheng is a professional LED Power Supply manufacturer from China who specialized in manufacturing lighting products and other new industrial products for more than 15 years. Our business covers emergency lighting, LED Lighting Power Supply, ITO plastic films, EL panels, many other industrial products, and new materials.

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