Safety Update

Safety Update: Safe Light Levels - Part II

By Mick Walton, BJ Electric and Tim Driscoll, P.Eng., Shell

Lighting is often deferred by our maintenance and planning departments to more important issues such as motor maintenance, heat tracing or the myriad of other issues that actually maintain productivity.  However, we need to change this mentality.  A consulting engineer produces a lighting design based on the principal that the lamps and fixtures are all in operation and being well maintained. If fixtures and lamps are not maintained the light levels will drop accordingly.  The situation is exacerbated in an outdoor industrial environment where often we encounter just a handful of fixtures to illuminate a given platform or area.  The loss of one or two fixtures will often reduce the light levels to below safety standards set by the owner. 

Safe light levels almost certainly contribute to a reduction in slips, trips, and falls around the work area.  The better the chance the worker will see an object or obstruction the better the chance he will avoid falling on it or over it.  The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (I.E.S.N.A) has published many charts and diagrams along with recommended safe light levels for working areas.  These recommendations are often misinterpreted and crucial elements are missed.  When it comes to walkways and traffic areas the correct amount of light will reduce the amount of slips, trips, and falls. 

Another crucial element of the I.E.S.N.A. recommendations is that wherever sustained work is carried out a minimum light level of 20 ft candles should be maintained.  Again, where workers are carrying out lengthy maintenance during dark hours the correct amount of light will increase productivity and reduce accidents. 

Electrically speaking there is a crucial element to safe working levels.  When a worker fails to see an electrical conductor or fails to see an electrical hazard or misreads an electrical warning we are sadly aware of the potential consequences.  Electrical workers are often found working in poorly illuminated areas such as motors, or inside panels.  Consider the fact that we might spend large sums of money on performing an Arc Flash analysis of an electrical panel, provide the panel with an Arc Flash label for the worker to read and provide him with PPE according to the labels.  However, we place the electrical drawing inside the enclosure.  Forcing the worker to open the panel before he can familiarize himself with the contents and voltage sources.  We rarely provide the worker with a light inside or outside the panel so that he can clearly see any hazards. 

These are just a few of the opportunities to use lighting as a safety tool. It might just be the best way to cost effectively reduce accidents.

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