The purpose of anti-panic illumination of open areas is to reduce the likelihood of panic and to enable safe movement of people towards escape routes and exits by providing enough visibility to reach a place from where the escape route or exit can be located. It is recommended that escape routes or open areas should be illuminated by light falling directly onto the relevant surface; any obstructions located up to 2m above the surface should be illuminated as well.
Open area illumination is used in zones with unspecified escape routes: large rooms, halls or buildings with floor area exceeding 60 m2 or less, if a greater number of people gathered there may cause an extra risk.
The minimum illumination provided by emergency escape lighting in an open area should be at least 0.5 lx at the floor level across a free core area, except for an outer rim of 0.5m excluded from the area. The ratio of the maximum illuminance to the minimum illuminance of the open area should not exceed 40:1.