What type of lighting’choose lighting for the office or cowork ?

To ensure the well-being and safety of their employees, companies are required to install adequate lighting. This obligation is the subject of a regulation since August 1983. It is therefore necessary to choose well the lighting used in the workplace, whether it is offices or coworking spaces.

Why choose the right’lighting ?

According to the Observatory of the quality of life at the office (Actineo), a poor lighting of the workspace is likely to cause visual visual fatigue, a eye irritation as well as headaches. On the other hand, a adequate lighting prevents deterioration of vision as well as fatigue caused by excessive use of the eyes. It also reduces the number of errors and avoids the occurrence of’accidents related to a degraded visual perception of the environment’work environment.

In other words, the use of a adapted lighting in the office is beneficial to the health of workers and ensures their safety. Moreover, it can improve the profitability of an activity by increasing the employee productivity.

Specifically, the’The lighting of a workspace must allow for the easy execution of a task and guarantee the visual comfort of employees. For this purpose, a average lighting level must be respected. Particular attention must also be paid to the quality of the diffused light, to the uniformity of the light and to the quality of the work’and the use of a’balance of luminance to avoid glare.

What does the regulation say ?

The regulation the lighting of a work place concerns the premises, their dependencies, all the outdoor spaces as well as the whole of the traffic lanes used by employees. For the interior spaces, the minimum illumination level required is :

• 40 lux for traffic lanes;
• 60 lux for stairs and warehouses;
• 120 lux for changing rooms and sanitary facilities;
• 200 lux for blind rooms dedicated to permanent work.

For the outdoor spaces, at least :

• 10 lux for traffic lanes;
• 40 lux for spaces where permanent work is performed.

The level of illumination of a workspace must also be adapted to the type of activity and the precision of the tasks to be performed. It amounts to :

• 200 lux for office work and average mechanics;
• 300 lux for a drawing office and work on small parts ;
• 400 lux for engraving, garment industry and fine mechanics;
• 300 to 500 lux for work with a light screen and 200 to 300 lux for work with a dark screen;
• 600 lux for various controls, fine electronics and precision mechanics;
• 800 lux for tasks in industry or laboratories that are very difficult to perform.

The choice of luminaires and lamps for work space

The luminaires and lamps to be installed in a work space must be chosen according to the type of lighting to be installed. If it is a general lighting (aimed at providing light that will illuminate a room as a whole), it is possible to invest in a 60×60 led panel. This type of lighting will provide visual comfort and energy savings.

It is also valued for its ease of maintenance.

For thefunctional lighting The use of a light fixture (which allows the lighting of a specific area for activities such as reading, writing, working on a computer, etc.) is a good way to save energy.), it is recommended to get a desk lamp or a directional spotlight. It is indeed essential to be able to direct the luminous flux as you wish on your work area. It is also advisable to opt for a model equipped with a dimmer switch to allow the user to adjust the light source’intensity of the lamp according to its needs.

L’orientation of the sources of’lighting and brightness

L’orientation of the lighting sources in a work area is a key aspect, as the visual comfort of employees depends on it. For the right-handed, desk lamp should be placed to the left in order to reduce shadow areas when performing a task. For the left-handed, it will be necessary to adopt the opposite measure.

In both cases, the flow of light should be directed towards the center of the work area. On the ceiling, spotlights are not recommended. It is better to install a led panel which will diffuse a homogeneous light.

To choose well its bulb

Desk lamps can be equipped withincandescent, halogen and fluorescent bulbs or even LED. It is recommended to choose a model that limits the glare. Its color temperature must not harm visual comfort either.

In general, it is necessary to avoid light bulbs that give a blue light, because the latter is not suitable for working. It is preferable to opt for white light models.

The occupational medicine recommends to use bulbs that emit between 2,700 and 3,000 Kelvin. The idea is to adopt lighting that is closer to natural light. Concretely, this one must be warm, but not too white.