- Published 27 May 2024
- Last Modified 27 May 2024
- 7 min
Industrial Lighting & Lighting in the Workplace
Ensure you have the best lighting for your workplace with our handy industrial lighting guide.
Workplace Lighting: Illuminating Your Work Environment
Ensure your workplace is brightly lit with our comprehensive guide to industrial lighting tailored for New Zealand businesses.
Lighting holds significant importance within any workspace. Apart from ensuring employees' safety, the type of lighting and its brightness are closely intertwined with the health and well-being of workers. As an EHS manager or maintenance engineer, it's essential to provide comfortable and safe lighting in the workplace to enhance productivity and ensure employee satisfaction.
Our guide offers valuable insights to help you optimize the quality of commercial or industrial lighting in your New Zealand-based business.
Warehouse Lighting Solutions
Enhancing the lighting quality in your warehouse can have a profound impact on the well-being and efficiency of your staff. Experts suggest three primary sources of light to illuminate a warehouse: halogen, fluorescent, and LED lamps.
For improved visibility in the workplace, the use of LED lamps, especially in areas with high shelving, is highly recommended. LED lamps have been proven to reduce the risk of accidents and minimize work absences, which can incur significant financial losses for companies.
One of the key advantages of LED lamps is their low energy consumption. Many company managers report an average energy saving of 50% on their electricity bills, specifically in the lighting budget, with some claiming an impressive 80% reduction.
Additionally, LED lamps are designed for long-term use, with a service life of at least 20 years according to specialists. They are also recyclable and do not contain toxic substances, unlike fluorescent lamps, which contain mercury and cannot be recycled after use.
Clearly, LED technology significantly enhances warehouse profitability, making it an ideal lighting solution for businesses across New Zealand.
Highlighting High Bay Lighting
High bay lighting is perfect for ensuring consistent bright illumination across large, open-plan spaces with high ceilings, making it a preferred choice in warehouses, manufacturing, and distribution sectors. This type of lighting includes a variety of lamps and fittings and is particularly suitable for areas where indoor floor-to-ceiling height exceeds eight meters.
Learn more about high bay lighting in our comprehensive guide .
Office Lighting Solutions
In the workplace, lighting is just as critical to comfort as ergonomic furniture, seating arrangements, desk setups, storage options, and ventilation systems. The brightness, colour, and strength of light sources all contribute to ensuring clear visibility and enhancing the concentration of office workers.
A well-lit office is essential for ensuring excellent reading comfort and preventing visual fatigue. Consider these criteria for assessing the quality of your office lighting and its significance, including luminance, uniformity, and color rendering.
When determining your lighting needs, consider the nature of the tasks being performed and the layout of the workspaces.
Under the 1974 Health & Safety at Work Act, employers are required to provide adequate lighting to ensure safe working conditions. It also mandates that employees' eyesight or health should not be jeopardized due to inadequate illumination.
Specifically, Regulation 8 of the Workplace Regulations Act 1992 stipulates that employers must ensure:
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The work area has adequate and appropriate lighting.
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Where reasonably practical, natural light should be utilized.
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Adequate and suitable emergency lighting should be provided as necessary.
Different tasks necessitate different levels of lighting. Generally, tasks that require more detail demand higher levels of illumination. For instance, a process control room should be illuminated at 300 lux, while a corridor or walkway may only require 50 lux. Studying an engineering drawing may require as much as 750 lux (refer to HSG38 Lighting at Work).
Depending on your requirements, you can choose from ceiling lights, desk lamps, wall lights, or floor lights. Ceiling lights can illuminate the entire room, while desk lamps concentrate light intensity on the desk or workspace itself.
Highlighting Smart Lighting
Engineered for convenience, smart lights communicate wirelessly, enabling remote control from anywhere with an internet connection. Smart lighting systems can be managed via wireless, Wi-Fi, voice commands, specific apps, and Bluetooth technology.
Laboratory Lighting Solutions
When selecting lighting for your laboratory, understanding the recommended brightness levels can be beneficial. Similar to other sectors, comfort and the nature of work are crucial factors to consider in a laboratory setting.
The EN 12464-1 standard outlines the lighting requirements for laboratories and similar facilities. This standard highlights four main criteria, including maintaining average brightness, setting the UGR (Unified Glare Rating) threshold, ensuring uniform lighting distribution, and incorporating appropriate colour rendering.
Highlighting Shatterproof Lighting
Shatterproof lighting is specifically engineered to withstand shattering caused by impact or internal pressure, making it a preferred choice for safety purposes. These lamps are commonly utilized in the food and beverage industry to adhere to food safety standards and prevent glass contamination.
Explore our selection of GlassGuard fluorescent tubes, featuring industry-compliant fragment retention technology.
Workshop Lighting Solutions
In workshops, lighting choices should align with industrial requirements. While various options are available, industrial lighting with LED technology is gaining popularity among buyers.
Industrial LED lamps typically feature a 40-mm diameter base and are highly recommended for illuminating large spaces. Their illuminance ranges between 80 and 160 watts, providing high light intensity ranging from 8000 to 16,000 lumens. With a lighting angle of 120°, LED lamps ensure comprehensive visibility across the workshop.
Pendant light fittings are recommended accessories for industrial lighting, available in rod, cable, or chain formats, enhancing visual lighting design.
You can also consider LED neon lamps, offering unique lighting effects. Available in lengths of 60cm, 120cm, and 150cm, LED neon tubes provide practicality and concentrated light beams.
Modern LED strip lights feature updated designs, including flat-design models and neon LEDs ranging from 60cm to 150cm. Encased in protective sleeves, these strip lights offer uniform lighting for smaller spaces.
Highlighting Emergency Lighting
Emergency lighting is indispensable for ensuring safety in commercial and industrial spaces by illuminating areas and indicating emergency exits.
Activity Light Levels
The table below explains the average and minimum illuminance requirements for various common activities, locations, and places of work.
Activity | Location/s | Average Illuminance (Lux) 1x | Minimum Measured Illuminance (Lux) 1x |
|---|---|---|---|
Movement of people, vehicles, and machinery | Corridors, circulation routers, lorry parks | 20 | 5 |
Movement of people, vehicles, and machinery in hazardous areas; rough work not requiring any perception of detail | Construction site clearance, excavation work, loading bays, bottling and canning plants | 50 | 20 |
Work requiring a limited perception of detail | Kitchens, potteries, factories assembling large components | 100 | 50 |
Working requiring perception of detail | Office work, bookbinding, sheet metal work | 200 | 100 |
Working requiring perception of fine detail | Textile production, drawing offices, factories assembling electronic components | 500 | 200 |
Key Points on Industrial Lighting
Ensuring appropriate illumination levels and quality in the workplace extends beyond mere visibility. Consider the following benefits of suitable workplace lighting:
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Poor quality lighting can pose health risks, such as eye strain and headaches. Prioritizing improved lighting quality contributes to employee health and safety.
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Maximizing productivity by providing suitable lighting minimizes errors and enhances staff comfort.
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Consider energy-saving options, such as LED technology, to reduce energy consumption and operational costs.
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Prevent failures and potential downtime by transitioning to LED options with longer operational lifespans.
Incorporating suitable lighting solutions not only enhances workplace safety and productivity but also contributes to long-term cost savings and employee well-being.
