Lighting in the workplace is a real asset when it comes to stimulating your employees. Essential for protecting eye health and promoting concentration,lighting in the workplace is also subject to strict legal controls. There's no room for improvisation when it comes to ensuring the best possible lighting in your office layout.
Good lighting has an impact on employee efficiency
Natural light plays a decisive role in the functioning of the internal biological clock. In the absence of light, the brain no longer secretes enough hormones to promote physical and mental activity.
In a dark office, employees tire more quickly and find it harder to concentrate.
A lack of brightness, or on the contrary over-lighting, is a source of eyestrain, headaches, irritability and poor posture.
The minimum lighting level recommended for good work is between 200 and 800 lux, depending on the activity.
Office layout, the key to light management
For better lighting, start by optimizing the layout of your workspace. Above all, give priority to natural light. With this in mind, place desks as close as possible to windows, and computer screens perpendicular to them.
Combine direct and indirect lighting. To be optimal, the ratio between the darkest and brightest areas of the room should be between 1 and 5 at most.
Don't hesitate to add mirrors, which are natural light reflectors and will easily increase the brightness of your space, and paint your walls in a light shade.
Finally, don't forget that theinstallation of blinds is essential to manage the flow of light. Too much light, for example, can be dazzling in summer, and interfere with the work of your employees. Completely closing the blinds leaves no glimpse of daylight, a source of well-being. So it's a question of finding an in-between solution.
In addition to the choice of lighting, the color of the walls is also a criterion of choice. For example, a light grey or beige hue will help your staff to concentrate. To stimulate creativity, a bright, positive yellow is just the thing, reflecting the natural light.
More light in the office: which lighting system to choose?
While natural light is to be preferred, it cannot of course ensure continuous visual comfort and uniformity of illumination. It is therefore essential to multiply artificial light sources. Avoid direct lighting.
General room lighting from the ceiling should be between 3,500 and 4,000 Kelvin. As for individual lighting, occupational medicine recommends, for ergonomic lighting, the use of desk lamps emitting between 2,700 and 3,000 Kelvin.
Type, color, wattage... The choice of bulbs is not insignificant either. For screen work, for example, opt for warm, natural lighting that's not too white. With this in mind, a 15-watt bulb is more than sufficient. Biodynamic lighting, designed to adapt to the human body's biological clock, can be an excellent remedy. In the morning, for example, people need less light. A biodynamic floor lamp will therefore produce a cool, less bright light, which becomes warmer and warmer as the day progresses.
Please note: lighting in the workplace is subject to specific standards. The French Labor Code and its implementing decrees No. 83-721 and No. 83-722 of August 2, 1983 lay down the legal basis for workplace lighting: "Lighting must be designed and installed in such a way as to avoid visual fatigue and the resulting visual disorders, and to enable the detection of perceptible visual risks. Wherever possible, workplaces should have sufficient natural light.
The AFE (Association française de l'éclairage) recommends an average lighting level of 300 lux for office activities, and 500 lux for data processing, typing and conference room lighting.
The French standards NF X-35-103 and NF EN 12464-1 should also be taken into account in the lighting of workspaces.
Once you've taken all these characteristics into account when managing lighting in your workspaces, the next step is to optimize office design, to promote both good lighting and comfort generated by the furniture. All these elements contribute to the quality of life at work.