Do Emergency Exit Signs Need to be Illuminated?
The quick answer to the posed question is yes – emergency signs need to be illuminated. Research, analysis, and several different conducted tests back the necessity of having an illumination feature on all emergency exit signs. The following will detail the reasons for implementing emergency exit signs with a glow in the dark feature that will provide brilliant illumination.
- Emergency exit signs must be able to be legible in any type of scenario that requires people to follow emergency exit signs. Depending on the type of scenario, emergency exit signs can become blocked by inhibitors such as smoke, water, fire, obstacles, distance, or even pitch darkness. An illumination feature – and a strong one at that – must be an available option on all emergency exit signs so the signs can be read from a distance, in the darkest or rooms, hallways, and corridors, through thick smoke and fog, and can be deciphered no matter what the condition or obstacle is hindering the ability to read. Glow in the dark illumination from a technology known as photoluminescence has proven to make emergency exit signs legible, no matter what difficult or hampering condition arises during a situation where people must follow emergency exit signs to a minimal safe distance.
- Illuminated emergency exit signs have statistically proven to save lives. For the reasons mentioned in the first bullet point, illuminated emergency exit signs help more people reach safety during an evacuation much more than non illuminated emergency exit signs ever have. In addition, the technology used in glow in the dark emergency exit signs make them much more reliable, more durable, longer lasting, and able to withstand forces that would disrupt other types of emergency exit signs. This technology, called photoluminescence, is being pushed as the technology of choice for emergency exit signs by almost every regulatory agency in charge of maximizing safety.
- Emergency exit signs connected to a power source have proven to be much less efficient, and are even considered a hazard because of its reliance on a direct source of electrical current from its location. Because of the way illuminated emergency exit signs function – absorbing ambient energy, storing it, then using it to operate effectively on its own – this has actually proven to be a much more efficient method of ensuring emergency exit signs not only function as intended, but maximize that operational capacity of the sign so people can reach safety with as little hassle as possible.
2015-01-13 18:47:00
