Emergency Lighting Requirements

Legal Requirements – Emergency lighting provision is governed by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; it’s also part of the fire safety provision of a building and a requirement of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

What is Emergency Lighting? It’s designed for when the main power supply is lost and normal illumination fails. Emergency lighting is required to operate automatically and give enough light to enable all occupants to safely evacuate the premises.

There are two types of emergency lighting:

Emergency Escape Lighting –this provides illumination for the safety of people leaving a location and is further subdivided into escape route, open area and high risk task area lighting.

Standby Lighting – This is to enable normal activities to continue and although not a legal requirement it may or may not be needed depending on the use and occupancy of the premises.

What’s the Duration for Emergency Lighting? The minimum duration for emergency escape lighting is one hour. The minimum duration for emergency escape lighting if the premises are not evacuated immediately is three hours.

Where Should Emergency Lights be Sited? Lighting units and signs should be sited clearly to show the routes leading to the final exits as well as coverage for stairways, changes in floor level, corridor, directional changes. Fire alarm call points and equipment must be clearly lit too!

Servicing & Testing – All emergency lighting systems must be tested monthly and annually. The results of the monthly and annual tests must be recorded and any failures detected should be rectified as soon as possible.