From bustling malls to individual stores, retail spaces face risks including high customer volumes, unfamiliar layouts and complex evacuation routes. With public safety and business continuity at stake, retail operators need reliable emergency lighting for retail stores, escape route illumination for shoppers, and BS 5266 compliant systems to keep customers and staff safe without disrupting operations.
Located in Srem District, Serbia, BiG Pazova is home to an impressive selection of attractions and experiences both historical and modern.
JCB Fire Ltd, a leading fire alarm contractor, recently partnered with Hochiki to supply and commission a state-of-the-art fire detection system at costa coffee’s brand-new flagship store at Solihull’s Touchwood Shopping Centre.
Entertainment establishments, such as shopping malls and multiplexes, are popular attractions due to their ability to provide a full range of facilities all in one space. However, these multipurpose destinations do require more complex life safety systems, meaning additional considerations for specifiers, installers and end users. Hochiki recently provided a solution to these challenges when called upon to provide high-end life safety protection at the Firestone Entertainment Hub in Jamnagar.
A recently opened shopping centre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is now benefitting from an innovative range of intelligent life safety systems from Hochiki Europe. The Broadway Shopping Centre, a large mall in the centre of Bradford operated by Westfield Corporation, was opened to the public in November 2015 and currently contains 77 restaurants, cafes and shops.
FIREscape Nepto is an intelligent, self-testing emergency lighting system designed for efficient installation, long-term reliability and low maintenance.
FIREscape+ is a combined system integrating fire detection and emergency lighting, with dynamic exit signs that guide safe evacuation during emergencies.
Retail sites present an environment with many risks, and when the mains power fails, reliable escape route and exit sign illumination becomes essential to guide shoppers to safety.
Retail sites present various levels of risk and, as such, sometimes require specific emergency lighting design to suit different areas of a store or centre.
Retail operators have a legal duty under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to provide adequate emergency lighting that has been designed and installed within the guidelines of BS 5266.
The retail environment is complex, with a multitude of layouts coupled with many shoppers who are unfamiliar with their surroundings and need clear, well-lit escape routes to evacuate efficiently in the event of an incident.
In the event of a power failure or evacuation, clear illuminated exit signage and escape route lighting will help retail staff guide shoppers calmly and efficiently out of the building.
Luminaire and exit sign designs, including recessed options, should allow emergency lighting to be integrated into a retail environment without compromising any existing shopfitting or store aesthetics.
The emergency lighting system should be designed in such a way as to simplify not just installation, but also the on-going maintenance, continuously reducing costs compared with central battery or mains-powered systems, over the system's lifetime.
A good emergency lighting system will comprise a wide range of luminaires and exit signs to suit any retail environment, from small individual stores to large shopping centres and malls.
Each FIREscape Nepto control panel supports up to two lighting lines and 127 devices per line, with up to 12 panels networkable together — making it suitable for single stores through to large, multi-site retail operators, all controlled from a single point.
On 1 October 2006, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 became law and represented a major step in protecting building occupants. The RRFSO is risk assessment based and states that responsibility for fire safety - including emergency lighting - should rest with a defined ‘responsible person'. It is their responsibility to ensure appropriate emergency lighting systems are designed, installed and maintained; failure to comply with the RRFSO will leave the responsible person and/ or building owners vulnerable to prosecution.
In the most extreme cases, inadequate emergency lighting could delay evacuation and lead to loss of life, even in small-scale incidents. It is in shopping centres' and malls' greatest interest to keep people safe. By using Hochiki's FIREscape Nepto, shoppers and staff can be guided safely to exits during a power failure or evacuation, minimising these impacts.