Emergency lighting (Requirements in Germany)

There are two types of emergency lighting - standby lighting and safety lighting. Standby lighting takes over the functions of the normal lighting system if the power supply to that system fails so that essential work can continue. In most cases, standby power generators are used and these then supply power to the normal luminaires. The generators must guarantee at least 10% of the illuminance recommended for the activity.

There are three types of safety lighting:

• Safety lighting for escape routes; safe evacuation calls for a minimum illuminance of >1 lx at a height of 0.2 m, with a uniformity ratio of 1:40.
• Escape lighting as minimum background lighting to enable people to reach emergency exits in large rooms.
• Safety lighting for hazardous workplaces (near machines with moving parts) if failure of the normal lighting system presents an immediate risk of an accident or injury.