How LED lighting helps create a more efficient and happier workplace

29 Nov

Many businesses work hard to improve productivity and worker satisfaction by offering employee benefits and creating a positive workplace culture. But while these are worthy goals, it’s also important to focus on the basic aspects of the working environment.

Providing suitable lighting, for example, has a huge impact on the mood and performance of employees. A study by Cornell University even showed that replacing traditional lights with light-emitting diode (LED) sources can produce a 3-5% increase in workplace productivity.

As well as being up to 90% more efficient than incandescent bulbs, the superior vision offered by LED lighting increases accuracy and reduces mistakes in industrial settings. This helps workers better perform their tasks while also lowering the risk of workplace accidents. By improving working conditions through the use of LED lighting, you’re able to create a safer and more comfortable workplace that also boosts your productivity and profits.

 

Why is LED lighting so effective?

Despite their widespread usage, traditional lights are a startlingly inefficient light source. This makes it much more difficult for workers to perform, and up to 75% of employees report that they could be more efficient and productive with better lighting. 

But there’s another important reason why these lights have such a negative impact on your team.

Lights with a frequency below 100Hz flicker in a way that’s very difficult to notice. This flickering causes eye strain, fatigue and headaches, and makes for a very unpleasant working environment that workers simply don’t enjoy. Continuing to use traditional lights lowers your employees’ performance and increases the risk of workplace absence and lost productivity.

LED lights, on the other hand, typically range from 400-600Hz. As a bright, continuous and flicker-free light source, they’re a much better replication of natural light. That means your workers are able to see more clearly and don’t experience unnecessary strain that interferes with their working ability.

Much like their higher frequency, LED lights also produce a higher colour temperature. While incandescent bulbs typically reach 2,700 Kelvin, LED lighting is available in 3,000K, 4,000K and most commonly 5,000K. This brings them much closer to the colour temperature of the midday sun, providing a more natural working environment that energises your employees.

By switching to LED lighting, you transform a dull, stressful and difficult workplace into one that actively contributes to efficiency and worker happiness. That means you’re better able to meet customer demands and are less likely to experience high staff turnover. As a result, you can both reduce overheads and raise profits at the same time.

 

Benefits of LED lighting for industrial workplaces

Raises awareness and reduce injury

Workers in industrial settings often spend many long hours performing intense physical labour such as moving boxes or operating heavy machinery. Your employees are already at a greater risk of injury than in other industries, and the poor visibility and increased fatigue that comes from using traditional lighting increase this risk even further.

But the superior visibility offered by LED lighting helps your employees stay more aware of their surroundings. As such, they’re better able to notice and avoid potential hazards, leading to fewer workplace incidents and by extension fewer absences and insurance pay-outs. LED lighting also offers a boost of energy on par with a cup of coffee, allowing your workers to perform faster and more effectively throughout the day.

 

Encourages a healthy sleep-wake cycle

Our bodies are designed to become more alert with the brightness of the rising sun and become sleepier as it begins to set. The problem is that many workers spend up to half their waking hours under dim workplace lighting and then encounter bright lights when they return home. This causes havoc on our bodies’ circadian rhythm, making it very difficult to get a good night’s sleep.

Since LED lighting emulates the brightness and warmth of the midday sun, it wakes and energises your workers when they’re on the job. Then, when they return home, the absence of a drastic increase in light helps them wind down and rest properly before coming to work the next day. Supporting a healthy sleep-wake cycle in this way helps reduce worker fatigue, ensuring superior performance and contentment at work.

 

Saves money for use on other benefits

The light source in LED bulbs is much smaller than that of traditional bulbs. It also produces very little heat, meaning less wasted energy. That’s why LED lighting uses up to 90% less energy and can produce savings of up to 70%.

Similarly, while incandescent bulbs typically last around 1,500 hours, LED bulbs can last up to a massive 60,000 hours. That means you don’t need to replace them as frequently, allowing you to cut expenses even further.

Saving money on energy costs is an attractive prospect for any business, particularly during the ongoing energy crisis. But if your goal is to create a happier and more efficient workforce, you can divert those savings into hiring additional staff, buying better equipment or providing more employee benefits. On top of the performance and satisfaction benefits LED lights themselves provide, reinvesting your savings into creating a more enjoyable workspace has a huge impact on efficiency and worker happiness.

 

Find your perfect LED lights at LED Industrial Lighting

Since opening our doors in 2009, LED Industrial Lighting has designed, installed and certified LED lights for a wide range of commercial and industrial sectors. 

We’re a specialist independent LED lighting consultancy that helps you find the right lights to reduce costs, create an empowering workspace, and boost employee happiness and productivity. All our lights comply with BS 5266-1:2016 and other UK legal requirements, and we can even supply LED emergency lighting.

 

Contact us today for a free consultation, and we’ll help you create a better, happier and more efficient workspace.

Posted in Industrial | No Comments »