Over the past few years, researchers have uncovered that poor lighting in the workplace may be putting workers' health at risk. When workers are in poorly lit environments, they experience tiredness, eye strain, headaches, and difficulty concentrating on the task at hand (and in some cases, they report feeling like they need to fight to stay awake). Poor lighting in the workplace can be problematic as when people are tired or uncomfortable in their work environment, their performance will likely suffer. If you're interested in understanding more about poor lighting risks and how LED lights can help, read on!
Eye Strain Due to Poor Lighting
Most workers spend more than 90% of their day indoors, and close to 90% of that time is spent under artificial lighting. However, poor lighting can cause eye strain and even fatigue for people who use computers all day. Studies show that 67 percent of office workers complain about eye strain due to poor lighting conditions. About 50 percent suffer from computer vision syndrome (CVS), a term used to describe a cluster of symptoms caused by viewing a computer screen for prolonged periods: blurred vision, headache, dry eyes, and neck pain. With LED technology lighting, it brightens offices while lowering energy costs and improving workers’ comfort and safety. LEDs emit no harmful UV light as fluorescent tubes do.
Headache
There are two types of light-induced headaches—ambient glare, which is caused by all kinds of light in an area, and direct glare, which is caused when you're working near a window or lamp. Ambient glare can be made worse by poor lighting. Poor lighting can also cause eyestrain, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue due to prolonged use. Over time, these symptoms could lead to vision problems like macular degeneration or even permanent vision loss. LEDs can help prevent these health risks because they're less likely to produce ambient glare than other light sources. And when installed correctly with proper spacing between lights and fixtures, they produce little to no direct glare at computer screens while cutting out shadows on work surfaces.
Posture
Poor posture is a serious problem for many office workers. The type of lighting in most offices isn't great at making it easy to get comfortable and sit up straight. To get better posture while you work, try changing your lighting situation. An LED desk lamp can help to brighten up your surroundings so you don't have to bend your body sideways to allow more light to get through from overhead fixtures while typing or reading. If you change seating positions frequently—for example, if several people share an office—choose an adjustable light that can be easily moved from one side of your desk to another.
Low Levels of Productivity
If you're not getting enough sleep at night, your body will be less responsive, and it will take more time to do simple tasks during the day. Add in poor lighting and lack of energy, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Before you know it, your productivity levels go from bad to worse as mistakes start piling up. If you want to improve workers’ health and productivity levels in general, switching to LEDs is the solution. LED lights don't fade as much overtime as traditional bulbs, so workers won't have to spend hours replacing them. Best of all, since LEDs use less power than traditional bulbs (and therefore generate less heat), they're ideal for warehouses and factories where proper ventilation is essential for keeping workers safe and healthy!
The link between better lighting and improved health isn't just theoretical. People who work in areas with poor or uneven lighting are more likely to be injured on the job. LEDs are one way to help solve these problems—they can deliver excellent brightness levels while remaining energy efficient.
