It’s probably not the most glamorous of subjects, but providing suitable and compliant emergency lighting is an important aspect of caring for your workforce, and there are several common ways in which you could be breaking the law.
Perhaps the most accidental of them all is that emergency lighting can fall foul after modifications to an office building or surrounding site. These may include putting up walls or moving doors – all activities that appear rather routine, but since current emergency lighting regulations require emergency lights in staircases and where corridors meet, things can easily be overlooked. Recent emergency lighting violations in the UK have included the 18-month imprisonment of a Blackpool hotelier and a £200,000 fine for a leading steel manufacturer, so it’s not a subject to be taken lightly.
As Mark Smith, owner of MS Electrical Services, observes, emergency lighting can therefore prove to be a bit of a minefield. “In reality, there are actually lots of ways in which businesses can break the law with emergency lighting. I would, though, single out five main ways: failing to do a risk assessment, failing to comply with current standards for emergency lighting installations, failing to comply with current standards for emergency lighting products, failing to comply with current standards for emergency lighting testing and failing to rearrange emergency lighting after a building refurbishment. At MS Electrical we focus on helping companies to stay ahead of the game and ensure not just that their emergency lighting is correctly positioned and in working order, but also that it complies to all relevant standards and regulations.”
To arrange an appointment to discuss your emergency lighting requirements, please contact us.
