Lighting & Indoor Air Quality,
OHSL here to assist.

The Health & Safety at Work act states that employers have a general duty to their employees for;

“the provision and maintenance of a working environment for his employees that is, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe, without risks to health, and adequate as regards facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work”

OHSL are able to assist employers with this duty by conducting indoor air quality surveys. Parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, air movement, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, predicted mean vote and percentage people dissatisfied can be measured. The results are compared to the relevant workplace exposure limits (WEL), guidance values and limits suggested by the World Health Organisation (who), The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).

Temperature & humidity measurements may be compared to the standard (Annex A of ISO 7730-2005 - Ergonomics of the thermal environment – Analytical determination and interpretation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria). The standard gives recommendations and categories for winter (heating period) and summer (cooling period).

Lighting

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to have arrangements to cover health and safety, this includes lighting which needs to be suitable and adequate to meet the requirements of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.

Lighting within the workplace can contribute to the health and safety of people using the workplace. The quicker and easier it is to see a hazard, the more easily an accident can be avoided, hence depending on the type of workplace, determines the lighting requirements for a safer working environment. Poor lighting can not only affect the health of people at work (causing eyestrain, migraine and headaches) but can also be linked to Sick Building Syndrome (causing headaches, lethargy, irritability and poor concentration).

It is important for you as an employer to assess and manage the health and safety risks attributable to lighting levels within the workplace. OHSL can conduct a workplace lighting survey and provide recommendations for task and general lighting requirements to enhance safe working within the workplace.