Hi Safety people Okay here is our situation.... 5 warehouses, 4 of which have full back up generators, currently emergency lights on all sites are tested 6 monthly with 1 hour illumination test and 12 monthly with 3 hour test. Generators tested weekly. All sites in exceptional order, clean, tidy, organised with offices, corridors, all aisle and open areas covered by multiple emergency lights not just escape routes A recent visit from our Fire friends have picked up that we are not carrying out monthly emergency light tests. We have 1342 fitting, it is anticipated that the monthly testing will take 10-12 days per month. Our electrical contractor says that with our electrical backup and general fire management, he agrees that monthly testing is excessive. I know what the British Standard says but based on our risk assessment our testing is sufficient. What are your thoughts?

If these are self-contained luminaires with their own batteries, and don't require the generator to be running, then as ptaylor says, your monthly test is just a quick one with the fish key to make sure it comes on, then back to charging again.

The quick functional check monthly should be all that is required, if it is necessary. You need to consider the impact of the full 3 hr test though carefully. Depending on how your lights are zoned, you could end up with no EM lighting in the event of an emergency immediately after a full discharge test. How long do the lights take to full re-charge to 3hr duration after full discharge? Some, take up to 48 hrs. Have you considered your options if you have that many lights and you are paying that much for maintenance then there may well be more cost effective ways of meeting this. The sampling suggested above is not a bad plan. However, is Mr FO worried about the annual 3hr discharge test. Do you do them all at the same time? Have you risk assessed the scenario of an emergency immediately after a discharge test?

Thanks for your thoughts.... To answer a few questions the testing is carried out by our electrical contractors. The issue is its not just a quick fish tail key on/off we have nearly 1400 fittings, some need to be switched off via fuse boards, others keys. Its the 10 days of full time testing plus the cost...... The point about our back up generators is that our normal lights wont go out so the emergency lights wont come on anyway. I think the rolling test option dropping the 6 month test will be the answer and see how Mr FO reacts. Thanks again

tony., Unusually for me I was not that direct! It sounds like a typical electrical contractor that thinks they can also be a designer, and further more design EM lighting, or, the designer if not them was incompetent. I would LOVE to see who signed for the design on the completion cert!...

fouldsyfoulds Why 6 monthly test? this is not required your fire officer is right, tests should be carried out like below. Functional test - Monthly (Operational 1 minute test) (lamp & battery operational) Duration test - Annually (Full rated duration test) (rated duration achieved 3hrs) This is what the British Standard 5266 state, anything other than this is a deviation. Also with the amount of luminaires mentioned I think it would be cost effective having a central testing system I would imagine your labour costs are excessive. The payback period on a testing system is only 2 years. I have designed emergency lighting systems for many Hospitals, Schools, Warehouses, I usually propose automatic testing systems.