A minimum duration of 3 hours should be used for emergency escape lighting if the premises are not evacuated immediately. The 3 hour time frame allows the fire brigade time to work in the event of a fire after all of the building’s occupants have been safely evacuated. How often should my emergency lighting system be tested?

Sometimes there isn’t a test key switch. If not then you have to find the consumer unit and turn off the power to the whole circuit that controls the emergency lights. Hopefully it will be marked which one it is, but it could be more than one circuit. There are 2 options for testing emergency lights. You can do it by using the test key switch and key shown in the picture below. Or at the distribution board if it’s clearly marked as emergency lighting.

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Switch off the mains power supply to the lighting unit. Often, a separate switch with a 'fish key' is installed allowing the testing of emergency lights without having to switch off all power. Walk past all emergency lights to ensure they are working. Note any defects and get repaired immediately. Record your results in your fire safety log book. Yearly Annual emergency lighting tests need to be carried out by a professional technician. This will involve testing your system for the full duration – usually three hours – and is commonly paired with testing your fire alarm. Areas in which there is moving machinery or vehicles, flammable materials or control rooms associated with potentially dangerous processes have, as ‘high risk task areas’, slightly different requirements in relation to emergency lighting – particularly in relation to the illuminance levels to be maintained and duration of operation. High risk task area lighting is provided predominantly to ensure that processes can be safely terminated, and occupants make their evacuation from the area without undue risk from the process. Here at the Fire Protection Association, we offer a 5-day Fire Detection, Alarms, and Emergency Lighting training course that provides a comprehensive understanding of systems, legislation, and standards including BS 5266-1 and BS 5839, as well as practical guidance for carrying out installation, commissioning, and maintenance of systems. Find out more here. There should be a monthly test of your emergency lighting carried out by the responsible person for your building. This is usually a short test to ensure that your emergency lighting works, making note of any units not working or those that require cleaning and maintenance.

High risk task area lighting provides light for the safety of people involved in potentially dangerous processes. This lighting enables proper shut-down procedures to be followed for the safety of the operator and other occupants of a building. There are many different types of emergency lights and different types of emergency lighting test facilities however most of these different pieces of equipment are generally tested and inspected in a similar way. For the annual test, the requirements for emergency lighting are to test for a duration of three hours. When doing so, the primary lighting circuit must be switched off and emergency lights left on for three hours in line with BS 5266-1. All luminaires should remain lit throughout this period. Any defects should be reported and remediated as soon as possible. A competent person should carry out these annual emergency lighting tests and undertake any remedial work needed as a result. These tests may be performed by technicians during a fire alarm service, as this can be done while waiting for the lamps to complete the duration of test. How to test emergency lighting? If you have a central battery system, then most of the above still applies to you. Drop the incoming power to the battery and do the same walk tests. Make a note of any failures etc. However you need to test the whole system all at once. By testing the whole system at once, you are ensuring that the battery can power all the emergency lights for a full 3 hour duration. If you only tested in zones then the battery would not get a full and proper test.You need emergency lighting in areas that could be considered “dangerous” such as commercial kitchens or plant rooms. If your building has rooms larger than 60 square metres, then emergency lighting is recommended. How long do emergency lights need to stay on? Is your building permanently used E.G. Hotels, then you need to test the lights so that the end of the test corresponds to the start of day. In this way the emergency lights will have a good time to recharge during daylight hours. Natural daylight will help if the emergency lights don’t last 3 hours. Should I test ALL emergency lights at once? Because your emergency lighting should be constantly charging to keep a full, 3-hour charge for an emergency, you may opt to conduct a test at the end of the working day. This will ensure that the charge is only depleted when people are out of the building, giving the lights time to recharge overnight. Here at LW Safety, we provide emergency lighting for all commercial premises throughout Wembley, Harrow and Uxbridge. On top of that, we can also help keep your system working through our emergency lighting maintenance service, so you can always be confident that people can find their way out of the building in an emergency. Not only is this a legal obligation, but it can help to save lives. Be very careful when touching anything inside the electrical consumer box, there is a danger of electrocution if something is wrong. If in doubt seek a qualified electrician ** What time of day should I test the emergency lights

Failure of the normal lighting does not necessarily mean that the hazard no longer exists. A hazard may continue long after failure of the normal lighting supply. In such circumstances, high risk task lighting will be required and designed in such a way to ensure illumination is maintained as long as the local hazard continues to exist. If you notice any issues with your system, you should call in a professional technician to diagnose and remedy the situation as soon as possible to ensure you are covered. The frequency in which you should get your emergency lighting tested can vary depending on system type (i.e. maintained emergency lighting or non-maintained), but as a general guide, you should aim to get your emergency lighting system tested monthly, in addition to an annual ‘full duration’ test as described in BS 5266-1. All emergency lights have an LED charging light on them. This light is to show there is suitable power supply going to the light and it is charging. Under normal circumstances, this light will be lit to show that the light is charging. If you notice that this light is not on you know there is a problem. There could be a problem with battery or the emergency light itself. You should report this straight away. Testing your Emergency Lighting Standards BS 5266-8:2004 and BS EN 50172:2004 describe the testing of emergency lighting units. MonthlyDue to emergency light systems being so important in the process of protecting building occupants and highlighting escape routes and firefighting equipment, it is essential that emergency escape lighting is regularly tested and maintained to ensure that in the event of a failure of mains power, the lighting works correctly and escape routes are effectively illuminated (escape route lighting).This advice and guidance article provides advice on how often you should get your emergency lighting tested, and how to test your emergency lighting. How often should emergency lighting be tested? This depends on the size and complexity of your building and the time it would take to evacuate. The minimum duration for an emergency escape lighting system is one hour. One hour’s duration should only be used if the premises are evacuated immediately on power supply failure and it is not reoccupied until full capacity has been restored to the batteries. Emergency lighting should be tested monthly in between servicing visits. Here is an example of what an emergency light looks like. If everyone goes home at 5pm then perhaps start the test then, or up to 3 hours before. So you know that if there was a problem after the test no one would be in the building and the emergency lights would have a long time to recharge overnight, before people start working again in the morning. But the building is used 24/7 365 days a year! Emergency lighting testing requirements stipulate that emergency lighting must be maintained and regularly tested in the same way as other emergency equipment. Each light should be identified and have a location identity for recordkeeping. A record log can then be kept of the system test, defects, any damage to the system, and remedial action relating to each light.