The importance of the correct light within the home workplace
Being flexible with working from home is becoming increasingly important, therefore the correct design of your home workplace is crucial. You probably haven't thought of it yet, but the lighting at home is often very different from that at the office. The standard for good office working light is 500 lux (the strength of the light on your work surface), this level of light aids concentration and minimises the contrast between your computer screen and the surrounding working environment.
At home we typically only have atmospheric light and the brightness of this often does not exceed 200 lux! Most rooms will have spotlights or just a single lighting fixture in the middle of the room, which may cause you to work in your own shadow or suffer with light glare from your computer screen.
What does this mean for your health?
- Irritated eyes
- Dry eyes
-Tension headache
- Concentration problems
- Bad sleep
Insufficient light, especially natural daylight can therefore lead to quite serious health issues and complaints in the long term, therefore you should consider the following preventative actions;
-Locate workplaces (desks etc.) closer to the window if there is too little light or move them further away from the window if reflection and / or glare from too much daylight is an issue.
-Set up VDU workstations so that the viewing direction is parallel to the window. As a result, one does not look into the daylight (when the face is turned towards the window) and the daylight does not fall on the screen (when the back is turned towards the window).
-In the case of VDU work, provide suitable sun protection that can block reflective daylight. Examples are sun shades, blinds and tinted glass.
-Take sufficient breaks during activities without much daylight and / or take a short walk in between.
If the amount of available daylight within your home office remains insufficient please contact Techcomlight: the daylight professional who can help to provide your home workplace with the right amount of daylight!
Please contact us for further information.
