Emergency and Exit lighting are a system of lighting that include green (lit) Exit signage, designed to protect the building-occupants and visitors in the event of an emergency, by providing a clear illuminated path through to the buildings escape route to the final exit door.
In the event of a mains power failure, the emergency lighting system should switch to a battery backup power supply, to provide illumination of the exit path, long enough for the occupants to safely exit the building.
Any government or commercial building that is occupied by employees, customers or the general public will require emergency lighting, as well as the common areas of multi-residential buildings.
Examples of building sites that require emergency and exit lighting include:
All exits and emergency lights must be tested every 6 months to ensure they run for 90 minutes on battery by simulating a loss of power.
The results of the duration test, any defects / non-conformances and maintenance history must be recorded in a paper or some form of digital log book.
An appropriately qualified person such as a licensed electrician should be used to test and inspect the components of any style of emergency lighting system.
The AS/NZS2293 standard includes requirements for testing of circuits and sensing of supply to the test facility which can only be performed by someone with the suitable qualifications.
Contact Blue Army to have your emergency lighting system tested.
Australian Standards for fire and safety and the National Construction Code of Australia stipulates that all workplaces should have portable fire extinguishers on site and easily accessible, regardless of what other fire protections mechanisms are in place.
To understand how and why fires burn, refer to the following graphic:
For a fire to burn, it needs three critical resources:
If you can eliminate any 2 of these elements, then you have a very good chance of extinguishing the fire.
For example, if you can stop the flow of oxygen and remove the fuel source or remove the fuel source and reduce the heat, then you may be able to extinguish the fire.
To put it simply, having a portable fire extinguisher in your workplace will be able to reduce or eliminate the degree of injury, damage, and cost to the business in the event of a small fire.
The key though is having the right type of fire extinguisher.
There are different types of fire extinguishers for different types of fires .Choosing the right fire extinguisher for your particular workplace and is very critical from a fire safety perspective, for example:
Class A – for fires involving Solid material
Class B – for fires involving flammable and combustible liquids
Class C – for fires involving flammable gases
Class D – for fires involving combustible metals
Class E – for fires involving energized electrical equipment
Class F – for fires involving cooking oil and fats
And knowing how to properly use a fire extinguisher will help to minimize the amount of damage caused by a spot fire.
It’s very important that you take the time read and understand the instructions on how to use your fire extinguisher – because in the event of a fire, you may not have time!
A good way to remember how to use one is with the acronym P-A-S-S.
Pull the pin
Aim at the base of the fire
Squeeze the lever slowly
Sweep from side to side
Ideally, your fire extinguisher should be installed with the following guidelines (as per Fire & Rescue authorities):
Note that the maximum distance from any point to the nearest fire extinguisher shall a be no greater than 15m and in some cases, depending on the building type, the distance to the nearest fire extinguisher will be shorter, for example in class 2 to 4 buildings, the maximum distance is 10m.
At Blue Army, we will help you to choose the most appropriate fire extinguisher type for your business, we’ll install it to the relevant standard (AS/NZS 1851) and we’ll train you in how to correctly use it.
Contact Blue Army today to have your fire extinguishers tested and have peace of mind that they will be ready to use if you ever needed to.
We all know how devastating and damaging an out-of-control fire can be – if not tackled quickly, a raging fire will destroy anything on in its path. The economic loss can be crippling for a business and not to mention the potential loss of life.
However, if you can get on top of a fire on its early stages, you may be able to prevent any greater loss due to an out-of-control fire.
One way is ensuring you have fire blankets available in your workplace.
A fire blanket is a piece of fire extinguishing equipment designed to extinguish a small fire or any fire at its initial stage.
It is a blanket-like sheet typically made of wool or specially woven fiberglass fabric treated with flame-resistant chemicals.
Fire blankets are highly effective in containing and extinguishing small fires by smothering it and stopping access to the oxygen that is fuelling it.
Fire Blankets are ideal for use in kitchens, caravans, boats and other places where cooking fats and oils are present and have potential for igniting.
Additionally, a fire blanket can also be used as a thermal barrier against radiant heat and/or smother a fire on a person’s clothing.
In some cases, it will not be safe or effective to use fire blanket, these situations may include:
Always exercise good judgment and care on the side of safety.
Fire Blankets are only designed to be used once.
After use, you must dispose of the blanket in the most suitable manner, there will be instructions on the packaging on how best to dispose in an environmentally safe way.
And once you’ve used the fire blanket, ensure you replace it with a new one as quickly as you can.
Blue Army can help you source the right fire blanket for your business and Inspect your blanket as required by the relevant Australian standards.
All our technicians are suitably qualified with relevant certifications and experience in fire and safety, emergency evacuation systems and electrical and communication systems.
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