Introduction

Illumination study evaluates  the  lighting installations in a systematic, critical manner of a facility under consideration to identify and control health and safety risks  arising from poor or wrong lighting equipment used in that facility  in order to reduce the potential for accidents.

The reviewing of lighting conditions is very important for the proper health and safety performance of the employees. Some common problems arising due to bad lighting are as follows

• Insufficient illumination- Poor illumination occurs due to failure of lamps/light fixtures, improper spacing of lighting distribution, poor maintenance, etc.
• Glare- occurs when one part of the visual field is much brighter than normal brightness human eye is normally adapted to. Disability glare occurs   when there is direct interference with vision of the employees. Where vision is partially impaired it is called discomfort glare. Both types of glare can arise from the same source.
• Color effects -When a surface is lit by artificial light source or daylight under changing sky conditions, may appear in multiple colors. In many operation like shutting down, or increasing levels, in a plant, the color plays an important role.
• Flicker- modulation of light at lower frequencies at 50 Hz or lesser are visible to most people and is called flicker. The eye is particularly sensitive to flicker. It can, depending on individual’s sensitivity, be a source of both discomfort and fatigue. It can even epileptic seizures in some people.

 METHODOLOGY

Hazard Identification: Identify where there are lighting effects such as poor illumination, glare, flicker etc. identify where design faults are in lighting arrangement. Check for improper lighting installation, maintenance, replacement and disposal .Finally evaluate the emergency lighting system.

 Decide who might be harmed: After analysis of the lighting hazards, evaluate who will be harmed from the lighting issues.

 Evaluate the risk: after finding hazards, the safety measures taken to prevent this accidents are adequate or not must be checked. If not, additional safety measures should be added to avoid accidents.

Record the findings: All the findings from the evaluations of risks from above steps needs to be put in a record and should be handed to the facility head. Mention the recommendations and procedures that needs to be followed to prevent accidents.

Review the assessment regularly: The report, procedures, and recommendations needs to be revised on a regular basis by the faculty head. Follow up of the study should be done if required.

INPUT REQUIRED

• Lighting Layout of the facility.
• Standards to be followed.
• Measuring the average illumination throughout the area using measuring instruments.
• Input collection like Shadows.
• Suffer from eye strain.

TEAM/EXPERT DETAIL

Lead Electrical engineer

Senior Electrical engineer/Job engineer

DELIVERABLES

Performance metrics and necessary data.

Data Collection and Analysis.

Recommendation based on Analysis and Input Data.

SOFTWARE, STANDARDS AND EQUIPMENTS

Bureau of Indian Standards, OISD are used and Software used is DIALux

For measurements, Illuminance measuring Instruments are used.

OUR EXPERIENCE