As an employer, it is your responsibility to make your workplace safe via all means possible, including the provision of proper lighting. Poor lighting can lead to workplace injuries and increase your workers' compensation costs. Inadequate lighting can cause eyestrain, lead to falls or even increase the risk of machine accidents. Here are some of the things you need to worry about when it comes to poor lighting:
Inadequate Illumination
Inadequate illumination is the most common form of poor lighting that can cause accidents. When your workers can't see where they are going, they can slip and fall on objects that wouldn't be too dangerous otherwise. For example, it is easy to step over a wet patch on the floor if it is well it, but not if the place is dark.
Over-illumination
The solution to inadequate illumination isn't to flood your premises with lights; over illumination may just be as dangerous. Too much brightness can lead to different health effects including stress, fatigue, and hypertension.
Therefore, have an electrician design your lighting systems so that they are just right for the specific tasks they are supposed to help with. For example, employees working on small objects or duties involving the perception of fine details require more lighting than those who work on large objects. Also, the effect is more pronounced with artificial light than natural light, so it's best to use as much natural light as possible.
Flickering Lights
Flickering lights are dangerous for different reasons. For one, they induce eye strain and headaches more than steady lights because the eyes do not adjust to the changing light levels in time with the light. Secondly, flickering lights may make moving machines appear slower than they are, or even stationary. Thus, an employee may hurt themselves trying handling a moving machine because the flickering lights make it appear slower than it is.
Uneven Lighting
Lastly, you should also avoid poor light distribution. Unless there is a specific reason or doing otherwise, you should avoid lighting fixtures that make some areas brighter than others. Uneven lighting may interfere with depth perception, more so for people with vision impairments. That increases the risk of slipping and falling.
Apart from increasing your workplace's safety, proper lighting will increase your employee's productivity. Therefore, commission appropriate lighting plans and fixtures and ensure they are well maintained. Together with other measures, the above tips will help lower injury incidences in your workplace injuries.
Employee injuries affect productivity. Also, you don't want your workers insurance rates to shoot through the roof, so deal with your lighting issues before they cause an injury. Talk to workers' compensation experts on further ways of preventing injuries.
Share17 May 2016
When you are involved in a messy car accident, things can get complicated fast. In addition to proving who was at fault, you might also have to worry about healing. However, you don't have to endure long phone calls and complicated insurance paperwork on your own. Hiring an attorney is the key to remaining strong during the aftermath of a car accident. As you think about your own situation, try to figure out if you can do things on your own. If you feel like you need a little help, don't be afraid to talk with an attorney. The information on this website should help you to decide how legal counsel can help you.
