Gosport Borough Council - link to living

Gosport Borough Council - link to your council

Gosport Borough Council - link to enjoying

Gosport Borough Council - link to working

Gosport Borough Council - link to community

Gosport Borough Council - link to environment

Lighting

INTRODUCTION

Regulation 8 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires that every workplace has suitable and sufficient lighting. This should be by natural lighting, so far as is reasonably practicable. Good lighting, whether natural or artificial, has an important role to play in promoting health and safety at work. It helps us to see hazards and it can reduce the likelihood of visual fatigue and discomfort.

GUIDANCE

General guidance is available within the Approved Code of Practice on the Workplace Regulations, whilst more detailed considerations can be found in HS (G)38 Lighting at Work. Both have been used in the production of this element.

GENERAL

Lighting should be sufficient to allow people to work, use facilities and move from place to place safely and without experiencing eye -strain. Stairs should be well lit so that shadows are avoided. Where necessary, local lighting should be provided at individual workstations and at places of particular risk. Dazzling lights and annoying glare should be avoided. Lights should not be allowed to become obscured (e.g. by stacked goods) Lighting should be subject to proper and efficient maintenance. Windows and skylights should where possible be cleaned regularly and allowed to admit maximum daylight whenever appropriate. Where workers are specially exposed to risk if normal lighting fails, emergency lighting must be provided.

DETAILED GUIDANCE

The table below gives average illuminances and minimum measured illuminances for different types of work.

General Activity	Typical locations/ types of work	Average illuminance lux (lx)	Minimum measured illuminance lux (lx)
Movement of people, machines and vehicles 1	Lorry parks, corridors, circulation routes	20	5
Movement of people, machines and vehicles in hazardous areas; rough work not requiring any perception of detail 1	Construction site clearance, excavation and soil work, docks, loading bays, bottling and canning plants	50	20
Work requiring limited perception of detail 2	Kitchens, factories assembling components, potteries large	100	50
Work requiring perception of detal 2	Offices, sheet metal work, bookbinding	200	100
Work requiring perception of fine detail 2	Drawing factories assembling offices, electronic components, textile production	500	200

Notes
1 Only safety has been considered, because no perception of detail is needed and visual fatigue is unlikely. However, where it is necessary to see detail to recognise a hazard or where error in performing the task could put someone else at risk, for safety purposes as well as to avoid visual fatigue the figure should be increased to that for work requiring the perception of detail.

2 The purpose is to avoid visual fatigue; the illuminances will be adequate for safety purposes. Recommended lighting levels for a wide variety of situations are contained in the CIBSE Code for Interior Lighting 1994. (See Reference/Further Details)

MANAGING LIGHTING HAZARDS

There are many simple measures that can be taken to eliminate or reduce health and safety risks from lighting hazards. The following table provides some checks and solutions to typical lighting hazards in the work place.

HS (G)38 contains extensive and useful information on lighting recommendations, equipment, installation and emergency lighting.

CHECKLIST - LIGHTING REFERENCES/FURTHER DETAILS

1.	Are all parts of your premises suitably and sufficiently lighted?	YES / NO
2.	Have there been any complaints or concerns about a lighting situation in the workplace?	YES / NO
3.	Do you maintain your lighting satisfactorily (including cleansing) and replace defective lighting units quickly?	YES / NO
4.	Do you know where to look for specific advice or guidance on lighting matters?	YES / NO

REFERENCES/FURTHER DETAILS

1. HS (G) 38 - Lighting at work (HSE)

2. CIBSE Code For Interior Lighting (CIBSE, Delta House, 222 Balham, High Road, London SW12 9BS). Tel: 0181 675 521.
Website:
3. HSE Books:

4. HSE website:

5. Lighting industry federation web page:-

For further information please call (023) 9254 5505, 5506 or 5507 during office hours or call at the Town Hall, High Street, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 1EB.

Alternatively e-mail ehs@gosport.gov.uk any time