Lighting in the workplace has an enormous impact on health. Performance of your employees. Good light promotes motivation, concentration, effectiveness and satisfaction. It helps employees recognize potential hazards in time and avoid accidents. In our two-part article, you'll learn why good indoor lighting is critical to the health of your employees and, by extension, the success of your business.
Why is good lighting important for health?
The eyes are our most important sensory organ: we use them to perceive around 80 percent of our daily impressions. Especially at the workplace, they are in use all the time and perform heavy work. Adequate workplace lighting supports the eyes and allows your employees to perform their work tasks optimally. Recognize dangers earlier. How to avoid accidents.
Poor lighting conditions put a strain on health and well-being. They lead to
– headaches due to strained vision, – cause eye problems, – increase nervousness, – affect the mood, – weaken the immune system and – promote bad posture, for example to avoid light reflections. Problems in the shoulder-neck-arm area can be the result.
Many studies have shown in recent years that lighting affects the internal clock and biological rhythm. Light intensity, spectral composition and light distribution therefore have a clear impact on psyche, behavior and physiology. Good to know: The influence of illuminance is greater the higher the proportion of visual requirements and the more difficult the visual task is.
What constitutes healthy lighting in the workplace?
The prerequisite for healthy lighting in the workplace is compliance with minimum requirements or. the so-called lighting quality features.
– adequate lighting level, – sufficient daylight components, – good luminance distribution, – limitation of glare and avoidance of disturbing reflections, – coordinated light direction, shadowing and body rendering, – pleasant light color and color rendering, – freedom from flicker.
What basic rules should you follow for workplace lighting??
You would like to optimize the lighting conditions in your company? Is the illuminance of the work task. Adapted to the workspace? If, for example, the windows are too small, you can compensate by providing more artificial light. – Is there a balanced distribution of brightness in the room?? Pay attention to the correct arrangement of windows, skylights and lights. This is also important for spatial vision. The visual understanding of your employees. – Have workplaces with inadequate daylighting at least a line of sight to the outdoors? – If the light color is pleasant and the color rendering is very good, so that safety colors, for example, can be recognized? – Is the lighting system regularly maintained and cleaned? – If annoying glare of any kind is avoided? – Are there disturbing shadows in the work area and on traffic routes? – Is the interior lighting low flicker and flicker-free? – Are there older employees? Their visual acuity often decreases, compensate for this with stronger, individually adjustable lighting – for example, via the right workstation luminaire.
In addition, with every lighting system there is the important question of whether it is energy-efficient and economical. Thanks to the rapid development in the field of LEDs, a suitable lighting concept, energy efficiency and economy are no longer mutually exclusive.
Which light is right for the workplace?
The best and healthiest light is always daylight. It has a stimulating. motivating influence on people. However, depending on the workplace, time of day and season, it may not always be available in sufficient quantities. Ceiling and wall lamps, desk luminaires and skylights must therefore provide the balance.
You can usually achieve an optimal lighting concept with a mix of:
1. direct and 2. indirect lighting 3. Workplace lighting 4. Daylight.
Indirect/direct lighting plus workplace luminaire
With indirect/direct lighting, work surfaces are illuminated partly directly and partly indirectly via the ceiling and other reflective surfaces. Always have the ceiling lamps positioned to the side above the work surfaces. Its task is to provide sufficient basic brightness in the room. This is important so that the eye does not have to adjust constantly. With the workplace luminaire, the employee can individually adjust the lighting to his or her needs – for example, according to the respective time of day or season. It's best to place this light to the side of the workstation – that way it can't cause glare. If it is dark in the office, the desk lamp should not be switched on alone. The difference in light to the surroundings is otherwise too great. Therefore, always switch on the ceiling lighting as well.
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You can also find out everything about the legal requirements for workplace lighting and your liability risk as an employer in our article "Occupational health and safety law: Make sure there is enough light at the workplace". You don't want to miss any information about LED in the future either? Then register free of charge for our blog !