Importance of Performing Emergency and Exit Lighting Testing
Emergency lighting is often overlooked when considering building occupant safety. In the event of power outages and darkness, emergency lighting and exit signs can help occupants navigate safely, remain calm and evacuate quickly. Emergency escape lighting is a legal requirement for all buildings in the UK and part of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Here are two featured digital emergency light checklist templates you can download for free, customize and use to perform mobile inspections using the iAuditor Mobile App.
How to Test Emergency Lighting?
Emergency lighting should be tested and reviewed by qualified technicians who have a thorough understanding of UK emergency lighting regulations. A typical emergency lighting test process can be conducted as follows:
1. Notify occupants about emergency light testing: the first step of the test is to ensure occupants are made aware of upcoming darkness simulation to avoid panic and injuries.
2. Identify the emergency lights in the building: all units generally have a red or green LED glowing on them
3a. Insert the test key into the key switch adjacent to the unit: make sure the emergency light fitting illuminates once the key has been inserted
3b. Switch off the relevant lighting circuit at the distribution board: ensure emergency lights illuminate automatically once power is cut off
4. Log all units that are not working: use emergency lighting log books and test sheets to record identified defects.
Recordkeeping with Emergency Lighting Log Books and Test Sheets
Emergency lighting systems must be tested on a regular basis. All detected failures must be remediated as soon as possible and all results must be recorded. It is common for technicians and maintenance inspectors to use Emergency Lighting Log Books and Test Sheets for recordkeeping. Key results captured include:
- Visual and physical condition of the equipment, battery, and luminous
- Any physical defects found;
- Assessment of test results (pass or fail);
- Identify the reasons for failure; and
- Inspector’s signature and timestamp to validate the inspection.
Replacing your Emergency Lighting Log Books with a Mobile App
Paper-based emergency lighting log books are difficult to maintain and time-consuming to complete. Paper logs can be easily damaged and misplaced which makes it difficult for technicians to track and locate specific entries. Also, the inability to easily capture and store photos makes identifying repair work challenging.
iAuditor, the world’s #1 mobile inspection app can transform your paper-based emergency lighting test sheets and log books into powerful digital mobile templates. With iAuditor you can create your own custom mobile forms, save hours in recordkeeping and take unlimited photos of equipment defects. A single online portal allows you to schedule upcoming tests, quickly identify defects and view all completed reports in real-time.
To save you time, we have created these two featured emergency lighting templates you can download for free and use with the iAuditor mobile app.
