Good lighting at work could help millions of office workers in London beat the winter blues this year as the short dark days rapidly approach. According to national office fit out specialists Overbury, the syndrome known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - which affects one in 10 office workers - could be virtually eliminated in the workplace with better lighting.
“Over the next six months people will be working with less natural light and relying more on artificial light which may not be appropriate for the tasks they are doing,” explains Chris Booth, managing director of Overbury. "This can lead to physical fatigue, high human error rates, headaches and depressive anxiety disorders such as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which affects one in 10 people during the winter months.” He adds: “Dimly lit workspaces may also cause employees to assume awkward body postures contributing to illnesses such as repetitive strain injury, back and neck pain, and chronic fatigue problems.”
He adds that while good workplace lighting design can increase employee productivity by as much as 15 per cent, it can also save thousands of pounds in lighting costs. “Typical savings can be achieved for example by replacing existing lamps with lamps having a lower light output and by removing lamps that are not needed. Installing skylights or positioning workstations in window lit areas can also help.”
Explains Chris Booth: “Lighting can make a room seem smaller or larger, calming or agitating so it’s important when designing office lighting that issues such as the placement of fixtures and factors like wall colours, shadows, reflection and glare which impact on people’s working environments are assessed.”
Overbury’s top five office lighting tips for employers:
1. Talk to staff or an expert to identify workspaces which are too dim or bright, or where the lighting fluctuates.
2. Check that light levels are appropriate for employee tasks – very soft light or reflective glare will make computer screens difficult to read increasing reading and typing errors.
3. Remove lamps which are not needed and make more use of natural light including skylights and replace regular light bulbs with ‘daylight bulbs’.
4. Avoid lighting which shines straight down from the fixtures, making the office space gloomy and casting shadows on people’s faces.
5. Choose neutral colours which do not reflect light or create glare for floor coverings, office equipment and furniture
