Useful Information Lighting at Work
The Importance Of Lighting At Work
(Information supported from the HSE guidance book: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/hsg38.pdf)
Why is it important to have good lighting in the workplace?
Lighting is extremely important to the health and safety of everyone using the workplace. The quicker and easier it is to see a hazard, the more easily is it avoided. Poor lighting can affect the health of people at work; two relatively common illnesses are Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Symptoms of SBS include headaches, lethargy, irritability and poor concentration. SAD symptoms include difficulty waking up in the morning, morning sickness, over sleeping, over eating (particularly carbohydrates to comfort eat), lack of energy and concentration, and withdrawal from social activities. This can lead to depression.
The employer is responsible for the lighting in the workplace and should be aware of the costs of poor lighting. Poor lighting can be costly to businesses in the result of increased accidents and injuries; increased absenteeism; reduced staff efficiency and productivity.
Extracted from the HSE guideline book:
“The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) places a duty on employers to ensure the health and safety of employees and others who may be affected by their work activities.“
“The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 place a duty on employers and self-employed people to assess risks to health and safety from their undertaking. This will include risks from lighting. The duty holder must also identify what measures are needed to comply with health and safety requirements and make arrangements to manage these measures effectively.”
“The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992: Regulation 8 requires every workplace to have suitable and sufficient lighting. The lighting in the workplace, should as far as is possible, be natural. Regulation 8 also states that suitable and sufficient emergency lighting needs to be provided, where people are particularly exposed to danger, in the event of failure of artificial lighting.”
How can lighting be improved?
- Use as much daylight as possible- the best source of lighting for employee satisfaction
- Selectively reduce the number of lamps in over-lit areas
- Use triphosphor fluorescent lamps
- Install high-efficiency reflectors
- Replace incandescent light fittings with fluorescent
How can daylight be improved in the office?
The best method for increasing natural light in the office is to use glass wall partitioning systems. More natural light is able to flow through the glass walls, penetrating the office interior more so than a standard wall.
Apton Quartz Glass:
The Quartz Glass range comes in single glazed and double glazed options. Quartz is a frameless glazing system with minimal glass to glass joints in crystal clear PVC maintaining the mullion free aesthetic.
Modern buildings where there is an HSW requirement for natural light to reach all offices are constructed generally on a natural light central atrium concept.
Quartz is the ideal system in this environment providing certificated strength and stability, acoustic protection and fire resistance, for both atria and offices, combined with the classic elegance of glass.
Complementing the single and double glazed screens is a range of glass and timber door sets in both sliding and swing configurations, including double glazed acoustic doors and cavity glass sliding doors.
Toughed or laminated safety glass from 10mm to 19mm thickness, in fire rated, acoustic, coloured or LCD specification, can be accommodated in the system.
Applied manifestation to the client’s choice or to the minimum DDA requirement will provide the final touch.
