The Hours of Darkness myth is a dangerous one. The truth is that 99.9% of buildings require emergency lighting to fulfill their duty of care. If you don’t think yours is one of them you need to read this post!
There is confusion around opening times, building usage and hours of darkness. Confusion that can be dangerous or cause unnecessary accidents.
A business has a duty of care to its staff and visitors. It’s a legal requirement that all non-domestic buildings are safe at all times. This includes schools, business facilities, shopping malls, etc.
This means two things:
- almost all non-domestic buildings require an emergency lighting system
- this system must provide enough light to easily find, follow and use all emergency routes
Crucially, anyone who is unfamiliar with the building should be able to safely find their way out. If in doubt, take someone that doesn’t know your site and give it a try.
The Hours of Darkness Myth!
It’s easy to see how the confusion occurs. Pupils usually leave by 5pm. There is plenty of daylight to allow safe evacuation in case of power failure or fire. Fair enough.
Sometimes, borrowed light from outside provides some illumination inside the building. Any relevant person should easily be able to escape safely. Okay, we follow your argument.
BUT! And there’s a huge but…
Almost every building in the country is used out of business hours. So the not used during the hours of darkness excuse is invalid!
For example:
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Schools hold parent evenings
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Business hold meetings that run late
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Event halls can be in use int he dark hours
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Cleaners, maintenance workers and contractors do not leave or resume as other staff
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Teachers often work early or late
And the list goes on.
You can see how someone may have ticked not required on the Fire Risk Assessment. This is an error. Your Fire Safety Inspector will not be impressed!
The simple truth…
- Buildings are used during the hours of darkness
- All non-domestic buildings are required to be safe at all times
- Well-lit emergency routes and exits must be easy to find, follow and use
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The moral of the story is -people need to ignore the myths and comply with the law! And that means Emergency Lighting is obligatory.
Green Safety Limited has all the up to date guidance and information you need. Our experts are trained and accredited in these fields.
A building owner simply can’t rely on myths. The penalties are too severe. They have important things that MUST be done right for the safety of everyone so they need FACTS. We are ready to listen, inspect and guide you in all these matters.