ADVICE & OPINION
COMMENT
EXIT STRATEGY
Anyone who has been in an
unfamiliar building when a fire
alarm is activated will know how
vital an emergency lighting system is
in such a situation. It gives occupants
a way of evacuating a building
safely in the event of a fire and its
role, as part of an overall life safety
system, should never be ignored or
underestimated.
PLAY BY THE RULES
UK fire safety legislation states that
people in a building must be able to
find their way to a place of total safety
if there is a fire, by using escape routes
that have enough lighting.
Evacuation can be hindered by a
lack of detailed knowledge of the
internal connectivity of the building
space, along with confusing and poorly
thought out instructions. Studies have
also shown that in these situations
occupants usually make use of familiar
routes – typically using an exit through
which they entered the building. Even
more worryingly, research from the
University of Greenwich, as part of
its Human Behaviour in Fire Network
(HUBFIN) study, found that only 38 per
cent of people see passive signage in
an emergency.
To address these issues, the
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order
2005 places the onus on a designated
14 MAY 2018
‘responsible person’ within an
organisation to carry out assessments
to identify, manage and reduce risk,
and put appropriate measures in
place. However, there is still a lack
of awareness of the risks around
not dealing with emergency lighting
correctly.
STANDARD ISSUE
Legislation should be adhered to in
order to identify a building’s specific
emergency lighting requirements.
The Workplace Directive 89/654
states that signs, in accordance with
national regulation, must indicate
specific routes and exits. Additionally,
The Construction Products Directive
89/106/EEC says that the purpose of
an emergency lighting installation
is to ensure that lighting is provided
promptly, automatically and for a
suitable time in a specific area when
normal power supply to the lighting
fails.
This is all encapsulated in BS
5266-1, Code of practice for the
emergency lighting of premises. BS
5266-1 provides information on the
correct lighting provision for the
safety of people and provides facilities
managers with information regarding
minimum levels of illumination,
duration of operation and the
maximum brightness levels needed to
prevent glare. When persons have
designed, installed, commissioned and
maintained systems in line with the
standard, they can be confident they
have a properly designed scheme.
APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE
There have been significant
advancements in the technology
deployed in emergency lighting
systems in recent years, with the
result that they now o‰ er a level
of intelligence that combines high
levels of reliability and ease of use.
Furthermore, light emitting diode (LED)
luminaires o‰ er significant additional
benefits in terms of size, lifetime and
energy e‰ iciency. LED luminaires o‰ er
some impressive features and 3W
fittings are available that run at 700mA
and come in standard format three
hour duration.
There are a number of factors
facilities managers need to consider
when specifying a system. Good
quality LED products from a reputable
vendor will have a higher output and
better spacing performance, meaning
fewer units are needed to achieve the
required level of illumination. This may
not only reduce the outlay on products
but also the installation cost, as well as
energy expenditure over the long-term.
It is also advisable to verify what
supported evidence is available
from a manufacturer to substantiate
that its solution is compliant with
building, legal, safety and quality
standards, and any other relevant
rules and regulations. In addition, a
manufacturer should be able to supply
evidence to support its product’s
functionality claims.
TESTING TIMES
In order to comply with BS 5266-1,
all emergency lighting systems must
undergo a short duration test on
a monthly basis and an additional
annual test for the full rated duration
of the emergency lights. A full record
sheet needs to be maintained for each
emergency luminaire and entered into
a logbook, which must be available
for inspection by the authorities at
any time. Failure to provide full test
records can result in legal action and
closure of a building, and if the system
is defective, the insurance policy for a
building may be invalid.
Modern systems utilise the digital
addressable lighting interface (DALI)
protocol, as set out set out in IEC
62386, so that full remote operation
and self-test is possible. DALI assigns
an address to each luminaire, allowing
management of each individual
device, and this can be as simple as
a single luminaire containing a driver
and a sensor. Scheduling of monthly
self-tests and annual duration tests can
be set up via the internet, with all test
results automatically logged.
STATE-OF-THE-ART
The most sophisticated emergency
lighting test systems consist of one
or more touchscreens, with each one
supporting up to 10 DALI emergency
hubs. The hubs have two separate DALI
field networks supporting up to 64
devices each, with each touchscreen
and associated emergency hub having
the capacity to manage up to 1,280
devices. These devices can be allocated
to one of 16 testing groups, so up to
eight touchscreens can be networked
together to form a system that can
potentially accommodate up to 10,240
DALI devices.
Given the high safety importance
of system testing, it makes sense to
automate this function. Soª ware can
be used to monitor all the luminaires
linked to the system and can schedule
and run a test, with the additional
ability to schedule tests in designated
areas. There is also the ability to carry
out either functional or durational
tests, which are time definable.
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
A high quality emergency lighting
system will give occupants a way
of evacuating a building safely in
the event of a fire. The regulations,
standards and guidance when it comes
to specification, installation testing
and maintenance are comprehensive,
and designed to ensure that each
building’s particular needs are
thoroughly examined and understood.
It is therefore imperative that FMs
understand their legal obligations in
this area and act accordingly.
$ correctly specifi ed, installed and maintained emergency lighting system facilitates
the prompt evacuation of a building aƚ ected by fi re and smoke says 5ichard 0erchant,
Commercial 'irector at 7heisCraft