Happy New Year!!! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season!!!
As we are in the shortest daylight hours here in the western hemisphere, I felt that it would be a good time to focus on lighting from an equipment and facility perspective. Poor lighting, indoors and outdoors, is not only an inconvenience, it poses several safety and security issues that can be easily overlooked in the day to day operation of any facility:
There are several newer lighting advances on the market, with more coming all the time. LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting solutions have come a long way in the last few years, and come in a variety of styles to accommodate nearly any lighting task. Also, the price points have come down a bit in some cases. If the upfront cost of an LED conversion seems daunting, consider the lifespan of LED's is up to 10 times more than that of the traditional incandescent bulb. In some cases, there may be a rebate available for a full conversion (check with your utility provider). Not directly light related, but a mirror in dark blind corners can help balance out a lack of light.
Install LED lights on your equipment. New equipment can come with LED lights standard or available as an option. Side note: if you are currently in the process of purchasing new equipment and want LED lights, ask for them to be equipped (before) purchase - it will cost more to upgrade after the fact. The benefits of LED lights on equipment: the lights are brighter ("stock" lights are still primarily incandescent) and require less power to operate, this is true of all LED's, which is a factor to consider for return on investment.
Additional lighting: adding LED strip or rope lights to the underside or inside of cabinets or along staircases is easy to install, and an affordable solution to apply light directly to where it is needed. New configurations of lighting are available for a wide variety of applications.
Coming back to the shortest light days - additional lighting can also be a mood/morale booster for everyone at your facility!
As we are in the shortest daylight hours here in the western hemisphere, I felt that it would be a good time to focus on lighting from an equipment and facility perspective. Poor lighting, indoors and outdoors, is not only an inconvenience, it poses several safety and security issues that can be easily overlooked in the day to day operation of any facility:
- Lack of visibility: of coworkers, merchandise and equipment, fixtures, etc.
- Eye strain/general fatigue: squinting and maneuvering to see objects in the dark - consider having to repeat this constantly during a shift will lead to fatigue sooner, and that's when accidents happen.
- Risk to customers: dark/dim areas of a lot or warehouse that customers are not used to increase incidents of slips, trips, falls, etc.
There are several newer lighting advances on the market, with more coming all the time. LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting solutions have come a long way in the last few years, and come in a variety of styles to accommodate nearly any lighting task. Also, the price points have come down a bit in some cases. If the upfront cost of an LED conversion seems daunting, consider the lifespan of LED's is up to 10 times more than that of the traditional incandescent bulb. In some cases, there may be a rebate available for a full conversion (check with your utility provider). Not directly light related, but a mirror in dark blind corners can help balance out a lack of light.
Install LED lights on your equipment. New equipment can come with LED lights standard or available as an option. Side note: if you are currently in the process of purchasing new equipment and want LED lights, ask for them to be equipped (before) purchase - it will cost more to upgrade after the fact. The benefits of LED lights on equipment: the lights are brighter ("stock" lights are still primarily incandescent) and require less power to operate, this is true of all LED's, which is a factor to consider for return on investment.
Additional lighting: adding LED strip or rope lights to the underside or inside of cabinets or along staircases is easy to install, and an affordable solution to apply light directly to where it is needed. New configurations of lighting are available for a wide variety of applications.
Coming back to the shortest light days - additional lighting can also be a mood/morale booster for everyone at your facility!
