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​In Australia, emergency and exit lighting are crucial components of building safety systems, ensuring that occupants can safely evacuate in the event of an emergency, such as a fire or power failure.

Emergency Lighting

What is Emergency lightings Purpose: Emergency lighting provides illumination when the normal lighting fails due to power outages or other emergencies. Its main function is to illuminate escape routes, emergency exits, and other critical areas to facilitate a safe evacuation.

Features:

• Automatic Activation: Emergency lights are designed to turn on automatically during a power failure or when the building’s main lights go out.

• Battery-Powered: These lights are powered by batteries that are charged while the building’s power is on.

• Brightness and Duration: They must be bright enough to ensure visibility and remain operational for a specified duration of at least 90 minutes.

Types:

• Standby Lighting: Provides light to areas that need to be illuminated for safety during a power outage.

• Escape Route Lighting: Ensures that exit routes and paths are clearly visible.

Exit Lighting

What is Exit lightings Purpose: Exit lighting indicates the location of emergency exits and helps guide occupants to safety during an emergency evacuation.

Features:

• Clear Marking: Exit signs are clearly marked with the Running man symbol or EXIT, usually in green, and illuminated at all times.

• Battery-Powered: These lights are powered by batteries that are charged while the building’s power is on.

• Visibility: They need to be visible from a distance and in conditions of smoke or low visibility.

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Standards and Regulations:

In Australia, emergency and exit lighting are governed by several standards and regulations, primarily:

• AS 2293: This is the main Australian Standard for emergency evacuation lighting and exit signs. It covers the installation, maintenance, and testing requirements to ensure compliance and safety.

• National Construction Code (NCC): Provides overarching requirements for building safety, including lighting provisions for emergency situations.

Maintenance and Testing

Regular maintenance and testing are essential to ensure that emergency and exit lighting systems function properly when needed. This includes:

• Routine Inspections: Checking the condition and functionality of lights and batteries.

• 6 monthly testing: Performing a discharge test on all fittings for a total of 90 minutes.

• Annual Testing: Performing a discharge test on all fittings for a total of 90 minutes to simulate real emergency conditions and verify the system’s performance.

Overall, the goal of emergency and exit lighting is to enhance safety by ensuring that occupants can find their way out of a building quickly and safely during emergencies.

 

 

VLM specialises in the ongoing Maintenance in accordance with building regulations for all types of Exit and Emergency lighting installations and provides the following services:
Testing

Repairs

Commissioning

Installations

Audits and condition based assessments

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Sustainability

VLM are committed minimising our environmental footprint and were recently recognised by Eco Cycle for our excellence in battery recycling. Battery recycling is a crucial aspect of sustainability, as it helps to mitigate the environmental impact of battery disposal and reduces the demand for raw materials. By recycling batteries, the emissions associated with raw material extraction and battery manufacturing are reduced. This helps lower the overall carbon footprint of battery production. VLM also maintains the highest of standards in regards to recycling on fluorescent tubes, fittings and other materials such as cardboard and PET.​​

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