10 HEALTH & SAFETY UPDATE
Can gathering data really
The modern emergency lighting
Rene Joppi, Commercial Director at Mackwell discusses the challenges we face and opportunities that lie ahead. Since the tragic events of June 2017, which saw 72 people lose their lives in the fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower in West London, the area surrounding building safety and compliance is now, more than ever before, at the forefront of people’s minds. Although not defined as a public or commercial premise, the 24 storey residential tower block contained many communal areas such as escape routes, assembly points and walkways which would have required a building risk assessment to help ensure the safety of the occupants and minimize the risk of fire. Amongst other things, the risk assessment would have defined the
need for evacuation aids such as the provision of a fire prevention system, sprinkler system and emergency lighting. In 2005, engineering consultancy, Capita Symonds compiled a report into the tower which contained a number of health and safety concerns regarding the emergency lighting system installed throughout the building. The report stated that the emergency lighting had fallen below standard and that the system was not being properly managed by the appointed responsible person, and that there was a perceived unwillingness to acknowledge the need for urgent maintenance and repair.
The report went on to specifically highlight the essential requirement for adequate emergency lighting to ensure the safe and immediate evacuation of occupants in an emergency situation, due to a lack of natural daylight in the building’s stairwells. Furthermore, the report stated that the building’s occupants were constantly at risk because of the ‘non-functioning emergency lighting’. Grenfell Tower is just one example of a residential building where the emergency lighting of communal areas was deemed as inadequate, yet in this area, it is unfortunately not alone, and this continues to be the case. As recently as 2018, a survey revealed that more than 40% of residential housing estates have the same issue of substandard and inadequate emergency lighting systems. This 40% figure however, is only representative from actual buildings surveyed and found to have to have non-compliances. In reality the figure is much higher and is estimated to be closer to 80%.