Emergency lighting and safety lighting… When we talk about this, we spontaneously think of the type of lighting needed in unusual situations such as power outages, fires, etc. Both terms are used interchangeably, but what exactly is what?
Laws versus standards
The Royal Decree on workplaces, under the heading ‘basic requirements’, includes a number of provisions regarding lighting in the workplace. It also includes regulations that safety lighting and emergency lighting must comply with. This Royal Decree distinguishes between the two types as follows:
- Safety lighting: ensures recognition of evacuation means and safe evacuation of persons in case of failure of normal artificial lighting.
- Emergency lighting: in case of failure of normal artificial lighting, ensures that activities can be continued to prevent dangerous situations.
The registered standard NBN EN 1838:2013 Applied lighting technology – Emergency lighting provides a different approach. In this standard, the term ‘emergency lighting’ is used as an overarching term for lighting that comes into operation when the power supply of the normal lighting fails. The standard distinguishes between 2 main parts:
- Emergency escape lighting: part of the emergency lighting to guarantee the safety of persons during evacuation or when terminating a dangerous task before evacuating.
- Standby lighting: part of the emergency lighting intended to allow normal activity to continue (rather due to technical and/or economic motives).
Under safety lighting, we further find:
- Escape route lighting: ensures that persons can safely use the escape route.
- Open area lighting: lighting that ensures persons can reach a place where an escape route can be recognized, thus preventing panic.
- High risk task area lighting: lighting aimed at terminating dangerous activities with an appropriate shutdown procedure.
A Dutch version of the standard (1999) was published in the Netherlands. In this, the Dutch text uses a number of terms that differ from the common terms used in Belgium. An overview:
|
NEN EN 1838 (nl) |
Common synonyms in Belgium |
|
Escape route |
Evacuation route |
|
Emergency escape lighting |
Safety lighting |
|
Escape route lighting |
Evacuation lighting |
Application of safety lighting
The standard NBN EN 1838 also specifies the application modalities of safety lighting, as well as the requirements it must meet. For specific details, we refer to the standard, but below we provide some important points of attention.
To guarantee sufficient visibility for evacuation purposes, lighting in the space is desirable. It is recommended to mount the luminaires at least 2m above the floor. Safety lighting luminaires must be placed near every exit and in places where it is necessary to emphasize possible danger or the presence of safety equipment. More specifically, these are the following locations:
- At every exit intended for use in an emergency.
- Near stairs.
- Near other changes in level.
- Externally illuminated safety signage.
- At every change of direction.
- At corridor intersections.
- On the outside of and in the vicinity of every exit to the outside.
- Near the first aid post.
- Near fire fighting equipment components and fire alarms.
- Near evacuation aids for disabled persons.
- Near shelter for disabled persons and emergency telephone.
When placing the evacuation lighting, it is important to ensure that a minimum illuminance is achieved and that no bothersome glare occurs.
The visibility of installed signage is of great importance in case of evacuation. The size plays an important role here, but also whether the signage is internally or externally illuminated. The following formula is used here:
L = z x h
Where:
- L = viewing distance
- h = height of the signage
- z = distance factor (100 for externally illuminated signage, 200 for internally illuminated)
Maintenance and inspection
Emergency lighting installations must be checked at regular intervals and maintained to guarantee their proper functioning. The responsibility for this lies with the building manager (owner/occupant).
Both monthly and more extensive annual inspections are required. This includes functional tests (does the lamp effectively turn on in case of mains power failure) and autonomy tests.
Annual maintenance is determined by the manufacturer, so in that regard, it is important to check which inspection and maintenance work is imposed by the manufacturer.
Important for maintenance and inspection is to keep records of the performed checks in a logbook so that good management of the installation is traceable. Such a logbook must contain at least the following:
- date and result of each periodic inspection and test
- date and brief description of each (periodic) maintenance
- date and brief description of each detected defect and its repair
- date and brief description of each modification to the system
For more information, feel free to contact Premed via info@premed.be. We are happy to help you further.
