The emergency exit light is a crucial and sometimes overlooked safety feature in the workplace. When power goes out, when there’s smoke so thick you can’t see your hand in front of your face, when glass windows shatter and rain down onto the floor—the emergency exit light should still be shining brightly for tenants to find their way out. Over 5000 structure fires happen in NSW yearly, which is why building admins must test their emergency exit lights often.
Testing and tagging Melbourne owner Ryan Hasson explains that in an emergency, the last thing you want is to get trapped in a burning building. People die each month while waiting for someone else to find them after a fire has engulfed their office establishment. This can be prevented if you regularly test your exit signs and lighting systems.
If you don’t test your emergency exit lights with the following explanation, you may be putting your employees at risk.
It’s required by law
It is mandatory under Australian law that all exit lights are tested before being used. If you are found to have failed to test an exit light prior to use, you could be held liable if emergency evacuation is hindered.
You can never predict when emergencies will happen
Emergencies do not wait for regular testing schedules. Flooding, fires and earthquakes may strike without warning. The unexpected loss of power can also cause problems with emergency lighting, so it’s important that devices are tested at least monthly to make sure they work in any scenario. While you might like the reassurance of knowing everything is working correctly before an event happens, this approach won’t keep people safe should you need it the most. After all, there’s no real danger in checking your smoke alarms every week to make sure they’re still operable.
Regular testing is a vital component of safety procedures
Your emergency lights are only as good as the infrequent tests you perform on them. If they work every time you check them, then that’s wonderful – but how will you know if something goes wrong? Without regular checks, you could be caught out having failed to do your due diligence when it comes to maintaining your safety measures. This makes it difficult to convince regulators and employers alike that any problems have been dealt with appropriately. By demonstrating a commitment to safe practices through regular testing, not only do you give yourself peace of mind, but also the ability to protect those around you from harm.
Emergencies can happen at any time
You don’t have to be an expert in fire safety to realise that emergencies are unpredictable. Fires, earthquakes, floods and other disruptive events may occur at any time of day or night. While it’s true that these types of emergencies are more common during the hours of darkness, what happens if you work irregular shifts? What if you’re on holiday? Even natural disasters can take people by surprise when they least expect it. No matter what your lifestyle is like, there’s always a chance that you could encounter an emergency without warning. Regular testing means you’ll know whether your exit lights function correctly before this happens.
Emergencies can affect life-saving devices with little notice
When was the last time you tested your smoke alarms? Have they been working consistently? What about your emergency lighting – does it turn on automatically upon an emergency, or do you need to press a button? It’s all too easy to forget how these pieces of technology work, and more importantly, what they’re capable of. In the event of a serious incident at home or at work, you can’t predict whether your devices will activate properly. There have been countless documented cases where people have been unable to hear smoke alarms due to being asleep or in a noisy environment. However, regular testing means you know for sure that your equipment works when it counts the most.
Emergencies often affect buildings with little notice
You might have tested the lights recently, but what about power failures? Most emergency exit lighting systems are battery-powered. When that power is compromised, it can take time to restore the lights to full functionality. This could be dangerous if you’re evacuating people from a building in an emergency. There are numerous cases where safety features have failed due to power problems, requiring people to guess which exits will lead them away from danger. By taking the time to test your safety equipment on a regular basis, you save yourself hours of stress trying to work out how best to protect those around you in the event of an emergency.
