The Importance of Industrial Lighting

The Importance of Industrial Lighting

Industrial lighting has important differences from home lighting. Industrial lighting fixtures have higher efficiency, larger size and more durable quality. It is also applied in industrial lighting, warehouse, garage, factory, other places with risk of injury and accident. In general, there are a large number of workers working in these places. Workers' safety and productivity are highly correlated with industrial lighting. However, many people overlook the importance of proper industrial lighting. Poor lighting is detrimental to work performance, causing headaches, misjudgment, errors and even injury. You need to know the awareness of the importance of the right industrial lighting. The benefits of appropriate industrial lighting include enhancing the visual experience, reducing accidents, improving the working environment, reducing health problems and increasing productivity.

-Improve the visual experience

There are various tasks and departments in industrial sites. Heavy machinery, precision inspection, shipping and receiving, packaging, etc. It is located on the industrial site. Workers work in different jobs even in the same industrial site. Therefore, suitable industrial lighting meets the requirements of all tasks and compartments and subsequently enhances the visual experience. The most important requirement for industrial lighting is visibility. Workers need adequate lighting to perform their tasks. Neither too bright nor poor lighting will reduce visibility. Of course, better lighting quality also improves the visual experience. CRI (Color Rendering Index) refers to the ability of the item to reflect its true color. The closer the color rendering index is to 100, the more natural the colors of the item will appear. With a CRI of over 70, industrial lighting is suitable to show the true colors of objects. Uniform and even distributed industrial lighting balances lighting throughout task areas or the entire industrial site. Strong brightness contrast can cause sudden blindness. The other factor related to the visual experience is glare. Glare causes disturbing visual experience and visual fatigue. Incorrect lighting installation or excessive lighting are common causes of glare.

-Reduce the accident

Loading, transportation, machine operation and other heavy works in industrial sites are likely to cause accidents. Accidents occur due to misjudgment, often associated with poor visibility or excessive lighting. Proper industrial lighting consists of adequate lighting and quality lighting. It plays an important role in reducing accidents. Proper industrial lighting contributes to a clearer view for workers and helps them recognize location, people and speed of moving objects, and prevent accidents or harm to people. However, the degree of accident reduction achieved with suitable industrial lighting depends on the industrial environments and the workers themselves. Harsh industrial environments have a higher hazard potential than other places, even if they are equipped with appropriate lighting. In addition, if workers do not take their duties carefully and seriously, an accident may occur due to their negligence and carelessness. Proper industrial lighting allows for a certain number of accident reductions, but cannot prevent them all.

-Improve the working environment

Proper industrial lighting adds value to the working environment. Lighting can illuminate the entire area, creating a safer environment for employees. Without proper lighting, a work environment looks boring. The working environment should be clean and comfortable. A boring work environment focuses on employees complaining about the environment rather than doing their job. Bad working environments also have negative psychological effects. Warm white light makes workers feel more comfortable, but also dim it also shows the working environment. On the other hand, a clean and bright working environment with appropriate industrial lighting is a must for employees. Therefore, improving the working environment is beneficial in increasing productivity. Cool white light is ideal for an industrial work environment.

-Reducing health problem

Both low and excessive lighting will lead to health problems. It will cause eye strain in low lighting conditions. Glare can cause visual fatigue and damage a person's eyesight. Also, glare is not a good thing because it causes people to feel anxiety, lack of concentration and other psychological disturbances. It causes severe insomnia and even worse headaches. Improper flickering lighting can cause stroboscopic effect. The stroboscopic effect is dangerous for those who operate machinery in an industrial environment. Some people are more sensitive to flicker at higher frequencies. This can cause poor visual performance, distraction, less motivation, headaches, dizziness, mental deterioration, etc. may cause inconvenience. Comfortable and high-quality industrial lighting can reduce health problems. It is the most important issue for everyone working in that environment to work healthier and more efficiently.

-Increase productivity

All studies are aimed at increasing productivity in industrial sites. Employees are less likely to make mistakes in the appropriate lighting environment. A study has shown that proper industrial lighting can increase productivity by about 10 to 50 percent. Employees are also less likely to feel tired or drowsy in a sufficiently bright and comfortable lighting environment. Studies have also shown that with appropriate industrial lighting, health problems such as eyestrain, nausea and headaches can be reduced by 30 to 60%. As employees concentrate on their work, it also positively supports their accuracy and speed. Proper industrial lighting helps increase efficiency.

Industrial lighting is important for visual experience, worker health, safety and productivity. Although the initial cost of industrial lighting is expensive, more profit is made with suitable industrial lighting due to increased efficiency.

It should be said that lighting plays an important role in ensuring the safety and security of employees in industrial environments. The right lighting can also reduce the cost of electricity, which means more profit. We must learn how to improve industrial lighting performance as well. In general, industrial lighting improvement should aim to reduce energy costs while increasing efficiency. The ways to improve lighting performance in an industrial environment are as follows;

- Take full advantage of daylight

Long-term and continuous operation not only shortens the life of the luminaires, but also shortens the waste energy. However, taking advantage of the daylight is the best solution. A factory with large windows with beautiful architecture or a roof that illuminates the interior with natural daylight would be great. This will ensure that the fixtures in the factory are closed between certain hours of the day. It is an effective solution to improve industrial lighting performance. There are two ways to take advantage of daylight. One is the interior design approaching daylight, the other is the smart control that incorporates daylight.

-The interior design is suitable for daylight

Place heavy machinery or jobs that require more light near windows to make good use of daylight. Replacing the roof and windows with translucent materials allows more natural daylight to be transmitted to the interior. Jobs require fewer fixtures and lower lighting, as daylight helps to increase ambient illumination.
-Smart control
Photo sensors are sensors used to combine daylight and control fixtures. Photo sensors turn the luminaires on or off according to the amount of daylight available indoors. When there is sufficient daylight indoors, the luminaires are automatically turned off with the help of photosensors. Intelligent control makes good use of daylight and helps save energy consumption.
-Improve the lighting level and quality
Adequate lighting is very important for an industrial environment. Lighting level requirements differ from areas and tasks. Lighting level and quality should be increased to improve lighting performance. Increased illumination level is beneficial for improving human visibility. Painting the wall or ceiling white is a simple way to improve the level of illumination as it can reflect light more effectively into the environment. However, you should avoid excessive light and possible glare.
If the existing conventional fixtures cannot meet the lighting needs, you can replace them with LED fixtures.
- Avoid glare and shadow
Glare and shadow are common problems of poor industrial lighting performance. They can cause eye strain, headaches, decreased vision and discomfort that is negative for workers. Direct glare and shadow are normally caused by incorrect lighting installation or excessive lighting level. However, indirect glare from light reflected from glossy surfaces is often neglected. Ways to avoid glare and shadows are:
-Flare
-Reduce the lighting level or remove fixtures to reduce brightness.
- If natural light is too bright to work, use blinds or curtains to shade windows.
- Avoid workstations with shiny surfaces or cover the workplace with opaque material.
-Install fixtures at a higher location or choose shaded fixtures to prevent light from entering workers' direct line of sight.
-Shadow
-Place fixtures in front of or above the person's head in work areas. Otherwise, the work areas will be in the shade.
-Upgrade the fixtures. Mounting high reduces the possibility of the shadow appearing. This will provide a comfortable and reliable vision.
-Use task light (Portable work light)
Portable work light should be available and used. It causes people to see stains, damage and other problems more clearly during operation, and the error is corrected in a short time. As errors decrease, operating performance and productivity increase. However, the locations of task lights should be chosen with care. For areas with sensitive or dangerous work, illumination levels that provide basic vision of the worker are not sufficient. In these areas, task light is required to ensure safety and efficiency. If the lighting conditions cannot ensure the safety of the employees, a portable task light should definitely be available.
-Cleaning and maintenance
Regular cleaning and maintenance helps to improve industrial lighting performance as well as lower the overall cost. Not only the fixtures but also the environment should be cleaned and maintained. Especially for food processing plants, everything exposed, including fixtures, must be washable. Due to hygiene rules, it should be wiped and cleaned.
Windows and ceiling should be kept clean. Clean windows mean more light, and more daylight into the work spaces inside.
- Regularly maintain and clean the fixtures. Dust, insects and other hazardous materials will affect the heat dissipation and lighting performance. Regular maintenance prevents possible malfunctions and poor lighting performance.