Emergency Lighting

I am not aware of any regulation that says in so many words that "emergency lighting must be provided in substations" However good practice and a general duty of care under general regulations suggests that it should be provided, at least at larger or more complex sites.


Most small DNO substations that I have seen do not have emergency lighting, They are simple and typically contain only an 11 KV ring main switch, a single transformer, and an LV fuse board. Any staff attending should be equipped with handlamps or other lighting equipment.


Larger or more complex substations and switchrooms that I have seen DO have emergency lighting. Provision of same greatly simplifies fault finding, alterations and repairs, and facilitates escape if it all goes horribly wrong.


I fail to see that properly installed emergency lighting would be a fire risk. Standard self contained battery operated emergency lights are often the cheapest and easiest to install. A better quality solution IMHO is a small central battery system but with the output switched by the same control as the room lighting. This avoids the needless discharging of the battery during a prolonged external power failure.

I am not aware of any regulation that says in so many words that "emergency lighting must be provided in substations" However good practice and a general duty of care under general regulations suggests that it should be provided, at least at larger or more complex sites.


Most small DNO substations that I have seen do not have emergency lighting, They are simple and typically contain only an 11 KV ring main switch, a single transformer, and an LV fuse board. Any staff attending should be equipped with handlamps or other lighting equipment.


Larger or more complex substations and switchrooms that I have seen DO have emergency lighting. Provision of same greatly simplifies fault finding, alterations and repairs, and facilitates escape if it all goes horribly wrong.


I fail to see that properly installed emergency lighting would be a fire risk. Standard self contained battery operated emergency lights are often the cheapest and easiest to install. A better quality solution IMHO is a small central battery system but with the output switched by the same control as the room lighting. This avoids the needless discharging of the battery during a prolonged external power failure.