Lighting at work is very important to the health and safety of everyone using the workplace. Poor lighting can affect the health of the people working in any industry causing headaches, eye strain, and migraine. Poor lighting can harm the business in the form of errors in work, absenteeism, and reduced staff efficiency and productivity.
Excessive lighting can cause glare. Glare is of two types disability glare and discomfort glare. Disability glare is the one when there is direct interference of light with vision resulting in impairment. In discomfort glare vision is not directly impaired, but it may cause discomfort, annoyance, irritability, or distraction the condition is called discomfort glare.
Lighting Requirements:
There are no regulatory guidelines for the intensity of the lighting required. It only states that “Adequate lighting shall be provided in all areas”. Adequate lighting for a particular workplace or area is decided based on the activity carried out in that particular work area and the intensity of light required to do the particular work.
To meet the lighting requirement, it is necessary to define the term “adequate”. This may be done by defining the amount of light (lux) reaching the working surface for each area involved in the production of pharmaceuticals.
It should be ensured that light intensity do not drop below the defined level by monitoring it on defined frequency.
The standard unit of Light intensity is Lux. 1 lux is equal to the light intensity of the surface one meter away from a signal candle. The lux is measured using Lux meter.
Light intensity should be checked at the operational height in the department about one meter from the ground. To determine final light intensity, the light intensity of a minimum five location are recorded and an average of all readings are calculated.
The ideal light intensity for offices is between 300-500 Lux. It should be about 400 lux in all production areas and above 300 lux in sampling and dispensing booth. In the inspection area, the light intensity is above 500 lux to see things better.
Summary: The intensity of Light plays an important in the workplace. Poor light intensity or too much light intensity can affect the quality of work, work output, and health of the people using the area. The intensity of light required for a particular area needs to be studied and defined.