Working under bad lighting requires a large strain on the eyes and this strain can lead to headaches and horrible work mistakes. Improper lighting affects the visual judgment of workers. The inability to see well because of bad lighting can affect their judgment regarding colors, estimated distance, and even their footing.

Let’s go over some common lighting problems in the workplace, that could be considered uncomfortable for your employees and even dangerous.

	Problem	Causes
1.	Insufficient Light	Eyestrain (when trying to focus), Stiff necks and aches in the shoulder area (when trying to move closer to the light source), Accidents, cuts, burns, bumps (happen in the environment that is insufficiently lit for the task that is being performed)
2.	Too Much Light	Headache, eye strain, inability to concentrate
3.	Uneven distribution of light	Shadows and glares can affect your eyes and ability to concentrate
4.	Glare	Can impair vision and distract from work
5.	Improper contrast	Confusion and distraction
6.	Flicker	Headaches, eye strain, and general eye discomfort
7.	Gloomy lighting	Depression, pessimism

1. Insufficient light in the workplace

This is a very common problem in most workplaces. The lack of adequate light affects the efficiency of production largely in workplaces. Insufficient lighting sometimes occurs as a result of using the wrong lighting for workplaces. In some countries, they do not even consider electrical lighting as a necessity. They think that the sun will give adequate lighting throughout the day, and to save money they rely solely on the sunshine. But as we all know, this type of lighting will be drastically reduced when the weather isn’t friendly.

Low levels of light cause workers to trip (over an unnoticed cord or box), cut or burn themselves (in the kitchen, for example), drop items (if the place where they need to put item is not illuminated very well), etc. They also tend to squint and strain their eyes in low light.

2. The workplace is overlit with too much light.

The opposite of having insufficient light. A workplace that has way too many light sources will end up being too bright. A building with too many bulbs will be more likely to cause glares. On top of that, if a room is too bright, transparent items will be barely visible.

Considering how often transparent and translucent materials are used in industry, not being able to see them would cause major problems in the workplace.

3. There is an uneven distribution of light in your workplace

Uneven distribution of light is also a common problem in workplaces. Even if you have enough bulbs to light up the workplace, if they are not properly and strategically installed, problems are bound to arise. Workplaces with bad light distribution will have some places darker while others will be unnecessarily bright. Causing dark shadows and glares to pop up around the work area. When lighting a workplace, proper steps should be taken to ensure the brightness and darkness in the room are evenly balanced.

4. Light glares in a workplace can disturb employees

A glare basically means too much light entering the eyes. There are two major types of glare. A direct glare and an indirect one.

• Direct glares happen when a relatively bright light source is directly within the field of vision of a worker. This hinders the visual ability of the worker and turns down his/her concentration. To fix direct glares, the light sources should be placed away from the line of sight of the worker. For electrical lighting, you can choose to add lampshades or other similar methods. In a workplace where natural light (sunlight) is favored, the installation of blinds reduces the amount of light let in.
• The indirect glare, on the other hand, is when light is reflected on a surface to the worker’s eyes from the original source. An indirect glare can occur even in a workplace with properly placed light sources. This is a result of having too many shiny or reflective surfaces in the workplace. Indirect glares can be avoided by moving all shiny items away from the light source.

5. Improper contrast in the workplace can confuse and distract

The contrast of light is also a factor that needs to be handled diligently because improper contrast can make it considerably hard to tell the difference between an object and its background. Low levels of contrast might make certain items virtually invisible to the workers.

This can be fixed by highlighting areas that should stand out more and dimming lights for the ones that should be darker.

6. Having a flicker in a workplace is very annoying

Flickers are probably the most destructive problems for the workers. The human eye takes great care to adapt to the level of light coming in. When this level of light is constantly changing (flickering) the eyes have to adapt each time the light changes. This puts a massive strain on the eyes of the worker. Within a few minutes of working under flickering light, workers might start experiencing headaches and eye problems. Workers with visual disorders can act up under flickering lights.

A flicker is a prominent issue with lighting techniques that use ballasts. Ballasts are special resistors used in fluorescent lights. Incandescent lights hardly cause flickers because their light filaments do not cool down as fast during the “off” time when the voltage fluctuates rapidly in the AC power line. When a filament cools down, the light becomes dimmer this is when fluorescent lights “flicker”

The special ballast used to control the amount of electricity supplied to fluorescent lights also controls the rate of flickering. Magnetic ballasts change the voltage that is supplied to the fluorescent lights. However, it does not change the frequency of the power line which is a standard 60Hz. The Ultraviolet (UV) light produced inside the fluorescent light tube also fluctuates 120 times per second. The phosphorescence (the fluorescent light) resulting from the UV shining on the phosphor coatings inside the light tube is sufficiently stable (i.e., lasts long enough) to even out the variations in the fluorescent light output.

• What can be done to decrease or remove light flicker? Using special ballasts on lights can drastically reduce flickering. Energy-saving Ballasts take the frequency of supplied power (a standard 60Hz) and raise it to a considerably higher frequency ranging from about twenty to sixty thousand hertz. The frequency of flickering is in turn raised so high that the human eye cannot detect any form of deterrence or fluctuation in the light intensity. This makes the lights virtually flicker-free. Electronic ballasts also produce much lower sounds or “hums” than other types of ballasts
• To correct flickering. Replace all bulbs on a regular basis, regardless of if they are still working or not. Older bulbs flicker a lot more than newer ones and they are not as bright. Make sure that every part of the lighting is installed properly and is functioning well. When replacing your old lighting system, try upgrading to fluorescent lights that use electric ballasts. Consult your lighting supplier if you come across problems with your lights and they may be able to provide you with modern lighting technology solutions.

7. Gloomy lighting in a workplace can make your workers distressed or pessimistic.

Gloomy lights can create undesired emotional effects and generally affect production in the workplace. No wonder they say that lighting can either lift your spirits or put you in a dull and unproductive mood. When selecting lights, steer clear of darker shades like blue and red unless necessary. Also, try taking into consideration the color and shade of the workplace itself when purchasing lights.

In order to sustain an ideal workplace and have your workers do their job efficiently and without breaking anything (brand new equipment, for example), you need to pay attention if your place is properly lit. This may seem small, but it will save you a lot of headaches in the future if you just get it done now.

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