Stand by for safe escape
May 1st 2009 The Fire Precautions Act, 1971 and
the Management of Health and
Safety at Work Act of 1974 make it
obligatory to provide adequate
means of escape in places of work,
public resort or residential buildings.
"If exit routes require lighting then
there must be an emergency power
supply in the event of a failure of the
main system," explains Tony Hooper
of Scorpion Power Systems.
To ensure that life safety
equipment such as emergency
lighting function when mains power
fails due to a fire or other
emergency, architects and building
consultants are specifying standby
generators which start automatically
when a fire alarm is activated.
However, selecting the correct type
of generator requires the specifier to
evaluate the worst possible scenario.
In order to determine the
generators size a list should be drawn
up of all critical, life-safety
equipment in order to calculate their
current rating and reference made to
motor nameplates. Escape lighting
not only has to mark the route but
must also illuminate exits, fire
equipment, escalators and special
areas such as control and plant
rooms. All these factors need to be
measured when the size (kW) of the
unit is decided.
A generator with a limited
autonomy of 4 hours is normally
sufficient for this specific application
and a less powerful generator can be
selected and savings made by
introducing sequential starting for
the heaviest loads. Scorpion Power
Systems can be contacted on the
number below for further advice on
the necessary considerations when
selecting a generator. More articles from Scorpion Power Systems: | 
