Escape Route Lighting Explained

Escape route lighting is the category of emergency lighting that illuminates the means of escape — corridors, stairways, changes of level and final exits — so that people can leave the building safely when the normal supply fails.

What it must achieve

• Provide enough light along escape routes for people to see where they are going.
• Illuminate exit signs, changes of direction and level, and fire-fighting equipment.
• Come on automatically and immediately on loss of the normal supply.

Where it is positioned

BS 5266 identifies specific points that must be covered, including near each exit door, at stairs and changes of level, at direction changes, and at fire alarm call points and fire-fighting equipment — because these are the features people need to find in an emergency.

Why it matters

In a real incident, ordinary lighting may fail just when people most need to move quickly and calmly. Well-designed escape route lighting turns a potentially dangerous evacuation into an orderly one. It works alongside open area (anti-panic) lighting and high-risk task area lighting.