Improving Upon Emergency Evacuation Safe practices With the Help of Photoluminescent Film Products

An emergency evacuation that brings about injuries plus casualties can result in three negative effects on the company that experiences it: a rise in workman’s compensation insurance because of payouts; damage to its name; and probably most injurious of all, expensive litigation that will also ruin its reputation. Guaranteeing that evacuations go as designed when it comes to evacuee behavior is never simple, but making your business evacuation ready begins with assessing its evacuation routes as well as safety signage. Do the paths contain luminescent markings, and is the signage luminescent? If they are not, your work place could be a firetrap waiting to occur. Below, we look at the importance of making your buildings egress routes and safety signage luminous with photoluminescent films.

The Significance of Luminescent Markings and Signage

The importance of luminescent path markings and building signage was reinforced by the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, where bombs destroyed the buildings’ backup generators which powered its backup lighting, leaving building occupants to use vertical exit enclosures in the dark, or with a flashlight. In response to this debacle, cities and states across the U.S. started implementing the emergency egress safety measures contained inside the International Fire Code (IFC), which mandates that luminescent path markings and safety signage be installed in egress paths inside commercial and residential R1 buildings that have occupancy above 75 feet from the lowest level of fire vehicle accessibility.

Updating Your Building’s Backup Lumination

If your state hasn’t already adopted a model from the IFC, your building’s vertical exit enclosures may have backup lighting by itself, a technology which has two drawbacks: it could fail, and it doesn’t work in the presence of smoke or dust. This is exactly why the IFC mandates the use of luminescent path markings on hand railing and handrail extensions, the leading ends of steps and landings, the perimeter area of landings, possible egress path obstacles, and the door frames and door hardware of exit leading doors. These markings, which are available in a non-slip surface, fully outline the equipment and dimensions of vertical exit enclosures, glowing brightly under all conditions.

Luminescent Films and Converting Basic Safety Signage

If your building’s exit enclosures contain non-luminescent signs whose information meets IFC guidelines, you may make them luminescent by adding photoluminescent film to their surface. The same applies to other building signs, particularly those that designate assisted rescue areas, fire extinguishers, fire hose as well as standpipe units, and signs that give building pathways. When you use photoluminescent film products to define your building’s egress paths and make its existing signage photoluminescent, you create an interior that facilitates efficient, expedient evacuations, evacuations which protect you and your building occupants against injuries and casualties that could have longstanding consequences.

In my research on photoluminescent film products, I’ve studied the worthiness of luminescent coatings and converting for existing buildings.

While conducting research for this article, I learned about photoluminescent suppliers and photoluminescent safety signs at www.Jessupmfg.com.