(Newswire.net — October 4, 2018) — Gold Coast Expert Electrician, EJ Barnes Proprietor of EJ Electrical Works, tells us how office lighting can boost productivity by revealing his top tips.
Office Lighting Design and Productivity: Getting it Right
It is known that trying to work in a dark or dingy office doesn’t help in achieving best performance, but EJ Barnes of the Gold Coast electrical company, EJ Electrical Works, says there’s more to office lighting than just keeping the office well-lit.
“Your lighting design needs to be done in conjunction with the positioning of workstations,” he says. “Shift things around, and you probably need to adjust the lighting design. Also, people don’t like overly harsh, bright white light all day long. And it does affect their productivity and physical wellbeing.”
The way to find the best kind of lighting is not that hard. “Natural light is the best,” says EJ, “but unless you’ve got a narrow office with really big windows, the people furthest from the windows won’t get enough of it. That’s where clever lighting design comes into the picture.”
“What we want to do to keep office workers comfortable and productive is to get something that’s as close to natural light as possible. But there are a few other issues to consider. For example, where is the employee sitting in relation to the light source. If the light comes from behind, they’ll cast a shadow on their work. If it comes from the front, it can give them eye-strain because it’s shining right in their eyes.”
Case Study Shows Surprising Results
Getting lighting just right could give businesses a big boost. EJ explains, “I haven’t collected any facts or figures from my clients, but there’s evidence that lighting design can make a huge difference. In the U.S., the Reno post office tried switching lighting designs with the people rather than the space as the focus.”
“Apart from huge energy savings, worker productivity and accuracy shot up, and reports say that the value of that productivity boost alone amounts to $500,000 a year. On top of that, updating the lighting also helped the post office to realise substantial energy cost savings.”
Lighting may be taken for granted at times, but with the link between lighting and productivity enjoying attention, there have been some interesting innovations.
The latest development is that lighting is being developed to mimic the circadian rhythm. So early in the day, it’s bright and cool, and as the afternoon wears on the light becomes warmer. In tests, the amount of errors made was reduced by 12 percent and workers reported feeling less tired at the end of the day.
But although EJ finds the new research interesting, he isn’t altogether convinced: “The only question mark over this as far as I’m concerned is the placebo effect. I mean, you put a bunch of people in an office with special lights and you call it the “Healthy Offices Project,” that’s bound to have an influence on perceptions.”
“So, how much of the result they measured is linked to the lighting, and how much to the name of the trial. That’s impossible to tell under the circumstances.”
Clearly, there’s more to people-centric office lighting than we might expect. As an electrical professional, EJ believes he can help, “Some things are really obvious. For example, someone is stuck in a dingy corner. Beyond that, I’d recommend that local businesses call an electrician to look at two things: the energy efficiency of lighting and the lighting design in relation to work stations.”
“If we improve energy-efficiency, it will help your capital to work harder for you by reducing costs. If we improve lighting quality, it will help your people to deliver their best.”
To find out more about EJ Electrical Works or to request an assessment of office lighting, visit their EJ Electrical Works Website or call 1300 DIAL EJ, that’s 1300 342 535. EJ Electrical Works serves the Gold Coast, QLD and Northern Rivers, NSW region.
Written & Syndicated by Baxton Media.