By Carolina Ruiz Vega

Visual fatigue, exhaustion, stress, and headaches… Improper lighting can make you feel sick; the right lighting, on the other hand, can benefit your performance, your health, and even your mood.

Illumination conditions are known to influence people’s moods and productivity.

Several studies have shown this relationship; research by Cornell University has found that proper lighting could increase productivity by up to 5%.

A study conducted by the American Society of Interior Designers reveals that over 68% of people who work in offices have experienced discomfort associated with inadequate lighting in their working area. Eye strain, fatigue, stress, and headaches were some of the discomforts mentioned; lack of concentration and discouragement, which can lead to accidents, absenteeism and poor performance, were also observed.

“Lighting affects workers’ health, productivity and mood. Choosing how to illuminate workspaces requires answering several questions in order to design the correct lightning, so that it supports and augments the employees’ performance,” explained Sergio Campos, project manager at Sylvania, a manufacturer of lighting products in Costa Rica.

Before designing the correct lighting for that workspace, a lighting specialist must determine:

• The time required to perform the task that is going to be made in that room.
• The percentage of time spent by each worker and by the whole team in performing the task.
• The relative importance of the accuracy and speed in performing the task.
• The visual difficulty of the task and the average age of workers.

“Too much light can cause bedazzlement and will increase the budget; too little light can cause a reduction in performance and bad attitude towards the work. Knowing all the details about the nature of the work will help the designer to better understanding the kind of visual activity that is going to take place at that specific space; this allows the design of the lighting according to those visual and psychological needs,” explained the Sylvania expert.

Campos affirms that best practices in lighting include taking full advantage of natural light coming through the windows, doors or skylights; and, with regard to artificial lights, they should be placed along the perimeter of the workplace, obliquely. Campos also prefers white lights, which increase concentration and productivity, rather than yellowish hue lights, which create cozy environments that can lead to sleepiness.

Inadequate lighting effects on health

Since light regulates or alters a number of functions in the human body, it is essential to know some of the effects caused by inadequate lighting:

• Eye disorders: pain and swelling of the eyelids, eye strain, heaviness, tearing, redness, irritation, impaired vision.
• Headaches.
• Fatigue: Lack of energy, exhaustion.
• Mood effects: Lack of concentration and productivity, carelessness and discouragement.