Monthly Testing of Emergency Lights

Background

Section 1910.36 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires among the other things: In every building or structure equipped for artificial illumination adequate and reliable illumination shall be provided for all exit facilities.

Testing Requirements

Testing requirements for emergency lights are defined in NFPA - 101 Life Safety Code Section 7.9.3 Periodic Testing of Emergency Lighting Equipment.

This section includes provisions for equipment that must be tested manually as well as self-testing / self-diagnostic equipment. For equipment that requires manual testing, a functional test shall be conducted on every required emergency lighting system at 30-day intervals for a minimum of 30 seconds. An annual test shall be conducted for the 1-1/2 hour duration. Equipment shall be fully operational for the duration of the test. Written records of visual inspections and tests shall be kept by the owner for inspection by the authority having jurisdiction."

It has been our experience that the primary failure mode for emergency lights involves the batteries. The minimum 30 second test duration is important because many times a light with bad batteries will illuminate initially when the test button is pressed, but fail within 30 seconds. Also, the focus of the 1-1/2 hour annual test is to determine if your batteries are strong enough to illuminate during an extended emergency period.

Frequency

As described in the paragraph above, 30 second functional testing shall be conducted at 30 day intervals.

Functional testing shall be conducted monthly with a minimum of 3 weeks and a maximum of 5 weeks between tests.

1-1/2 hour duration testing shall be conducted annually.

Testing Instructions

The following is an example of how the task instructions may be written in your computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

1. Visually inspect emergency light for signs of damage.
2. Press test button and hold for 30 seconds.
3. Verify that emergency light illuminates for entire time test button is pressed.
4. Record inspection results.
5. Initiate corrective action for deficiencies identified during inspection.

Required Tools and Supplies

Barcode scanner to quickly record inspection results
Stick to press hard to reach test buttons (optional)
Step ladder (optional)

Labor Time Requirements

It should take less than 1 minute to actually conduct a monthly functional test. However, the following must be considered when estimating labor time requirements for conducting monthly testing:

• Labor estimates should include travel time to each emergency light.
• In our experience, 5 minutes per emergency light, including travel time, is a good initial estimate for most commercial buildings. This estimate can be refined using actual data after the testing has been conducted a few times.
• If a step ladder is required the labor estimates will need to be higher than with no step ladder.
• Emergency light testing may also be combined with Lighted Exit Sign testing, which has very similar requirements.
• Some organizations assign this testing to electricians, however it can be conducted by any conscientious employee who has been trained to perform the testing correctly.

Recording Test Results Using FieldDataPro

Managing the testing of emergency lights scattered around a large facility or campus can be challenging. FieldDataPro can help you use barcode technology to track when each unit is inspected and more importantly, identify units that are not inspected or have deficiencies that need to be corrected.

When collecting emergency light test data with FieldDataPro you can use either the Detailed method or the Pass/Fail method. Either method makes effective management of the testing easy and eliminates paperwork and manual record keeping.

With the Detailed method, the tester records the status of each inspection point for each unit as shown in the image below.

With the Pass/Fail method, the tester creates a timestamped record indicating that the device was tested, and whether it passed inspection or was found to have deficiencies.

For a more detailed description of how FieldDataPro can help you manage Safety Inspection data, see this blog post (how it works).


Call us at (919) 323-3703 to set up a demonstration.

For more information, email us at info@fielddatapro.com.

http://www.fielddatapro.com/

OSHA Fines Manufacturer $46,000 for Fire Extinguisher, Emergency Exit Sign

In a June 20, 2011 news release, the US Department of Labor OSHA announced that they had cited Spears Mattress Co. in Rome, Ga for 14 serious safety violations. Penalties totaled $45,850.

The violations included improper storage of oxygen and acetylene compressed gas cylinders, fire extinguishers not mounted or identified, a malfunctioning emergency exit sign, walking and storage areas cluttered with flammables and heavy equipment, missing machine guards on equipment, a drill press that was not secured to prevent movement during operation, improperly adjusted bench grinders and allowing an employee to operate a forklift with non functioning emergency brakes. There were also several electrical code violations identified.

One of the things that a Facility Manager may find significant with this story is that it was a pop-in inspection by OSHA. There is a belief that OSHA only shows up after an incident, but that was not the case here. OSHA began this inspection as part of its Site-Specific Targeting Program, which focuses enforcement efforts on industries that report higher-than-average injury rates.

It has been this author's experience from participating (as a facility owner) in OSHA and EPA audits, that having your documentation in order is an absolute necessity for surviving these audits.

Three of the findings that this manufacturer was cited for were things that should be on periodic safety equipment inspections. These include forklifts (daily or at the beginning of each shift), fire extinguishers (monthly) and Emergency Exit Signs (monthly).

Forklifts inspections are typically documented using logbooks stored on the forklift. A great source for forklift logbooks (or any other type of logbook) is http://www.logbooks.com/. These inspections can also be documented using FDPMobile our handheld data collection software.

Managing inspections of safety devices that are spread out around a facility, such as emergency lights, lighted exit signs, fire extinguishers and eyewash safety showers is made very easy by using a mobile software like FDPMobile. Inspection results are entered into the mobile device at the time of the inspection, then uploaded to an easy to use web application, where missed inspections or deficiencies that were identified during inspections can be easily tracked. To see a case study of how the FieldDataPro solution is used to manage safety inspections follow the link below.

http://www.fielddatapro.com/case_studies/FieldDataPro_CaseStudy_book.pdf

Monthly Testing of Lighted Exit Signs

Background

Section 1910.36 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires among other things: In every building or structure equipped for artificial illumination adequate and reliable illumination shall be provided for all exit facilities.

Testing Requirements

Section 7.10.9.1 of NFPA 101 requires that lighted exit signs be visually inspected for operation monthly:

"7.10.9.1 Inspection. Exit signs shall be visually inspected for operation of the illumination sources at intervals not to exceed 30 days or shall be periodically monitored in accordance with 7.9.3.1.3 (7.9.3.1.3 discusses both manual testing of lighting as well as self-testing / self-diagnostic equipment)."

Section 7.10.9.2 of NFPA 101 dictates that exit signs with battery backup be tested monthly following the same standards as applied to emergency lighting, which are described in Section 7.9.3.

Section 7.9.3 of NFPA 101 requires that a functional test be conducted on this equipment at 30-day intervals for a minimum of 30 seconds. An annual test shall be conducted for the 1-1/2 hour duration. Equipment shall be fully operational for the duration of the test. Written records of visual inspections and tests shall be kept by the owner for inspection by the authority having jurisdiction.

It has been our experience that the primary failure mode for emergency lights involves the batteries. The minimum 30 second test duration is important because many times a light with bad batteries will illuminate initially when the test button is pressed, but fail within 30 seconds. Also, the focus of the 1-1/2 hour annual test is to determine if your batteries are strong enough to illuminate during an extended emergency period.

Frequency

Functional testing shall be conducted monthly with a minimum of 3 weeks and a maximum of 5 weeks between tests.

1-1/2 hour duration testing shall be conducted annually.

Testing Instructions

The following is an example of how the task instructions may be written in your computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

1. Visually inspect lighted exit sign for signs of damage.
2. Press test button and hold for 30 seconds.
3. Verify that sign illuminates for entire time test button is pressed.
4. Record inspection results.
5. Initiate corrective action for deficiencies identified during inspection.

Required Tools and Supplies

Barcode scanner to quickly record inspection results
Stick to press hard to reach test buttons (optional)
Step ladder (optional)

Labor Time Requirements

It should take less than 1 minute to actually conduct a monthly functional test. However, the following must be considered when estimating labor time requirements for conducting monthly testing:

• Labor estimates should include travel time to each exit sign.
• In our experience, 5 minutes per exit sign, including travel time, is a good initial estimate for most commercial buildings. This estimate can be refined using actual data after the testing has been conducted a few times.
• If a step ladder is required the labor estimates will need to be higher than with no step ladder.
• Emergency light testing may also be combined with emergency light testing, which has very similar requirements.
• Some organizations assign this testing to electricians, however it may be conducted by any conscientious employee who has been trained to perform the testing correctly.

Recording Test Results Using FieldDataPro

Managing the testing of safety devices scattered around a large facility or campus can be challenging. FieldDataPro can help you use barcode technology to track when each unit is inspected and more importantly, identify units that are not inspected or have deficiencies that need to be corrected.

When collecting lighted exit sign test data with FieldDataPro you can use either the Detailed method or the Pass/Fail method. Either method makes effective management of the testing easy and eliminates paperwork and manual record keeping.

With the Detailed method, the tester records the status of each inspection point for each unit as shown in the image below.

With the Pass/Fail method, the tester creates a timestamped record indicating that the device was tested, and whether it passed inspection or was found to have deficiencies.

For a more detailed description of how FieldDataPro can help you manage Safety Inspection data, see this blog post (how it works).

Call us at (919) 323-3703 to set up a demonstration.

For more information, email us at info@fielddatapro.com.

http://www.fielddatapro.com/

Structured Troubleshooting by Plant Operators

To make your Operator Rounds or Inspections meaningful, you need to:

1. Establish criteria for each reading that defines what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.
2. Ensure that each reading is compared to the acceptance criteria (high and low limits) each time it is recorded.
3. Define what should be done if any out of limits conditions are discovered.

FDPMobile is a mobile application that helps Plant Operators collect data and troubleshoot problems they may find during their inspections.

In FDPMobile, for each data collection point you may establish acceptance criteria in the form of high and low limits.

High and Low Limits are displayed to Operator. All data entered is automatically compared to the limits set up for the data point.

For each data collection point you may establish up to four condition based messages that will be displayed to the Operator if data is entered that is outside high or low limits for that data point. These messages are customizable and can include instructions that you would like the Operator to follow when they find things that are not the way they ought to be.

When we work with clients to implement FDPMobile and FDP Plant (the web application that works with the mobile application), we are often asked what should the content of the error messages should be. We respond by telling them to imagine themselves as a Plant Engineer receiving a phone call at 2:00 AM from an Operator who just encountered a problem on a very critical system. What three steps would you ask them to take while they are waiting for you to get dressed and get to the plant.

By putting this information at the Operators fingertips while they are in performing their rounds we are enabling them to solve problems quickly and safely.