Photoluminescent floor wayguidance signs.
13 October 2010
Many past events have brought to light the fact that smoke can obscure any exit signs placed near a ceiling, causing panic and confusion. These events highlighted the need of low location wayguidance systems.
Low location wayguidance systems allow an escape route to still be seen when smoke obscures the normal lighting. A number of tragedies have lead to the development of high performance Jalite photoluminescent floor wayguidance signs to identify the escape routes. Here are examples of these tragedies:
1985 – British Airtours Flight 28m. Engine catches fire prior to take off and spreads to cabin, of 136 occupants, 48 die from smoke inhalation.
1987 – Kings Cross Fire in London claims 31 lives. Poor evacuation procedures and smoke inhalation was the main cause of loss of life.
1990 – Cruise Ship "Scandinavian Star" catches fire. 184 perish, mainly due to smoke inhalation with smoke obscuring exit signs greatly hindering passenger evacuation.
1993 – the World Trade Centre came under attack, a bomb detonated in the underground garage killing 6 persons and in the ensuing evacuation more than 1,000 were injured.
September 11th 2001 is a day forever in people’s memories. Most will remember the terrifying events that befell the twin towers on this day. The hijacking and subsequent crashing of commercial airliners into the two towers caused a raging inferno which soon led to the collapse of both structures and the deaths of over 2500 people.
With photoluminescent floor wayguidance signs installed, escape could have been made more efficient by the clear and concise message relayed by the signs in both normal and power loss situations.
Speed of egress is essential for effective evacuation using safety signs that have been tested in accordance with ISO 9816 and standardised under ISO 7010. This is now part of the recommendations under ISO 16069:2004 symbols - Safety signs - Safety way guidance systems (SWGS)
Jalite photoluminescent floor signs are energised by the ambient light, this energy is stored and released giving a powerful illumination in darkness.
This technology proved very effective in the horror of 9/11, illuminating escape stairways within the Twin Towers to assist evacuation.
Tests Carried out in Canada by the National Research Council for the build environment were instrumental in the development of these safety wayguidance systems. The credentials for Jalite AAA Photoluminescent have been specifically developed for life safety application for Marine, Trains, Aircraft and Industrial requirements.
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