MK TEST FISH KEY FOR SECRET EMERGENCY LIGHT SWITCHES

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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? 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. Emergency lighting is required in premises to enable occupants to escape safely in an emergency situation. BS 5266-1 states that a building must have adequate illumination to support escape and identify firefighting equipment (or any other fire safety equipment). Standards BS 5266-8:2004 and BS EN 50172:2004 describe the testing of emergency lighting units. Monthly

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. The team here at Fire Trade Supplies have assembled a collection of Fish Key Emergency Lighting including F9099 grid keys (PK6), Multi-EL (3 pairs of assorted EL keys), EL key - crabtree style (PK6) as well as many more combinations which can all be found in our store. Not only will this help you to meet your legal obligations, but it will also ensure that anyone in your building is kept safe if your system is fully operational. This is because emergency lighting provides illumination should you experience a power failure or an emergency, such as a fire, within your building. Yes and no. If it is a small building and all the emergency lights are on one circuit, then yes, you have no choice. However if it is a large building then it would make sense to stagger the testing. This way the whole building would not be affected if there was a power cut, during the recharge time. Testing Central Battery SystemsThere 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. 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? Emergency lighting is essential for safety in commercial buildings. Whether you manage an office building, a retail unit or a leisure facility, you should have working emergency lighting to help meet the requirements set out in BS 5266:2016, which stipulates the need for buildings to have adequate illumination when mains power fails.

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. 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 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. 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. 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.

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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. 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 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. 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.

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. 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.We can provide emergency lighting testing and servicing to ensure you are fire safety compliant. We can test your emergency lighting system at a time that suits you. The results of all testing and any necessary corrective action can be recorded in your fire safety logbook. This record is then available for inspection if required. Emergency lighting should be tested monthly in between servicing visits. Here is an example of what an emergency light looks like.