Which Photoluminescent Safety And Security Signs Are Critical For A Safe Evacuation?

For those who haven't evaluated your building's evacuation safety measures in recent years, it is definitely time for you to evaluate your current planning strategy for a poor visibility evacuation. Particularly your vertical exit enclosure's emergency lighting fixtures, which often performs inadequately during the presence of smoke, and may even fail in the case when back up generators do, as happened through the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, forcing building occupants to have to travel vertical exit enclosures in the dark.

The significance of the IBC and IFC

If you have to make changes to your building's exit enclosures however, you don't know where to start, your best option would be to consult the IBC (Intl. Building Code) and then the IFC (Intl. Fire Code), which govern the stability, construction quality, and egress safety of new construction in addition to new and existing construction, respectively. With regards to egress safety, the regulations require the following varieties of photoluminescent safety indicators throughout vertical exit enclosures.

1. Exit Signs Inside Of Your Building

In cases where a vertical exit enclosure leads straight to an exit, the exit doorway should be labeled by using a luminescent building exit indicator, which includes these particular advantages over electric powered exit signage: never any mandatory maintenance, no needed wires, absolutely no required electricity, and no breakable parts. Over Tritium signs, that are also maintenance and electricity-free, luminescent exit signage offers the advantage of remaining non-toxic not to mention 100% recyclable.

2. Emergency Situation Exit Icons

Commonly known as running-man signs, luminescent emergency exit symbols are installed around exit-leading doorways inside of exit enclosures, and tell evacuees how to proceed after they enter the doorway: up, down, left, or right. According to the IBC and IFC, the particular icons should be center mounted eighteen inches above the finished floor, a position that enables evacuees to view them from the standing or crawling position.

3. Floor I.D. Indicators

Based on the IBC & IFC, a luminescent flooring identification sign ought to be mounted at each floor landing in vertical exit enclosures, and really should retain the following information: identification from the stair or ramp, floor level (also in Braille), the enclosure's floor range, the availability of roof access from the enclosure, and also the level of and direction toward the exit.

The Role of the Adhesive Coating Manufacturer

In case your building's vertical exit enclosures have signage whose dimensions and information don't meet IFC and IBC guidelines, it is best to purchase and implement signage that does. If your signage meets the codes' guidelines, however, with the exception of being photoluminescent, the most cost effective option is purchasing photoluminescent film and putting it on to the signage's surface, a procedure referred to as converting.

By outfitting your vertical exit enclosures with luminous signage and egress markings based on the IBC and IFC, you'll avoid an evacuation such as the one which happened following a 1993 World Trade Center bombing; one which boosts the possibility of injuries and fatalities, and then the chance of legal action and workers comp cases.

While conducting research for this article, I learned about photoluminescent products and photoluminescent films & tapes at www.Jessupmfg.com.