Proper Ergonomic Office Lighting in Your Workstation

One of the strategies for managing workplace health and ergonomic hazards is achieving ergonomics. When you think about ergonomics, you’ll generally relate it to the furniture. However, many people tend to overlook the importance of ergonomic office lighting.

Too much or too little lighting may be the underlying reason why you’re suffering from severe eye strain and fatigue in the past few days. Ergonomics office lighting is not only a trend but an indispensable feature of a workstation. 

This piece will shed light on everything you need to know about office desk ergonomic lighting setup. So, let’s get started!

Introduction to Lighting Ergonomics

The ergonomics of lighting is the relationship between the source of illumination and an individual. Lighting ergonomics have an enormous effect on the prevention of CVS, productivity, and well-being.

Many workplaces have suspended or fixed overhead lighting fixtures as the primary light source. This type of lighting causes glare and discomfort for the user. Extended periods of poor lighting can cause an imbalanced contrast.

Incorrect light distribution and inadequate color temperature can cause eye strain for working individuals. That’s when ergonomic office lighting comes into play. An ergonomic light setup focuses on providing the right amount of light at the correct position.

Why is Lighting Ergonomics Essential?

Lighting ergonomics is essential for all kinds of workstations. Insufficient or inadequate lighting setup can lead to:

• Eye fatigue
• General sickness
• Relatively higher employee error possibilities
• Reduced worker morale
• Low focus

Working in poor lighting can hurt your productivity. Moreover, the incorrect color temperature is also taxing on your emotions and mood. It is why you need to achieve an office desk lighting setup.

Tips for Optimizing Your Workstation Lighting

Thankfully, you don’t need to be a lighting expert to optimize your workstation light source. Here are some tips to successfully achieve ergonomic office lighting:

Work With the Color Temperature

An ergonomic office lighting helps in mitigating eye strains and boosts an individual's mood & productivity. Color temperature indicates how “warm” or “cool” the light source is. The color temperature is indicated in Kelvin (K).

The warmer color temperature induces sleepiness. Besides, cooler color temperatures can boost productivity by a whopping 19.4%. Several studies also claim that cool color temperatures improve alertness, mood, and support mental health. 

Ensure Proper Lighting

Make sure that your ergonomic workstation setup has adequate lighting. This tip is one of the crucial attributes of lighting ergonomics. Poor lighting will force your eyes to focus harder to perform the task. It ultimately causes headaches and eye strain.

According to several experts, a standard office space must include 300-500 lux of illumination. When considering ergonomic desk lighting, don’t forget natural light.  Studies suggest that professionals who have access to natural lighting have better alertness.

You can choose a bulb with a higher amount of lumens, and the lighting will be brighter.

Use Contrast

Contrast is the connection between the object and the background in terms of color and brightness. Incorrect color contrast will force the eye to strain to perform tasks. If you wish to achieve ergonomic office lighting for your office desk light, you must focus on the color contrast aspect.

When the color distinction is insufficient between the background and the foreground, it’s hard to the latter. Adjust the PC to identify the perfect color contrast for best visibility and ergonomics.

Another attribute of perfect color contrast is avoiding any significant variation between the background and foreground. As an example, you can take the activity of using your mobile phone outdoors during the daytime. The poor lighting contrast makes it difficult to see the screen.

Eliminate Unwanted Shadows & Dark Spots

If you're overly relying on direct lighting while working at your ergonomic standing desk, it can lead to shadows and dark spots around your workstation. To have ergonomic desk lighting, you have to eliminate the illumination imbalance. This typical lighting error can be the cause of headaches and eye fatigue.

Many professionals work on their desktop or PC, with an ergonomic chair and with a bright desk light and relatively dim room. This illumination imbalance forces the eye muscles to expand and contract constantly. The consequences? Eye strain and severe headaches.

An ergonomic office lighting setup will constitute a combination of direct and indirect lighting. This type of arrangement will offer a consistent and ambient light setup.

The 20-20-20 Rule for Eye Strain

Are you experiencing headaches, blurred vision, watery/dry, or itchy eyes? If so, this could be a cause of eye strain. Thankfully, it is easy to prevent eye strain at work with a simple trick of 20-20-20.

So, what’s the 20-20-20 rule? The 20-20-20 rule says that every 20 minutes, focus your eyes on something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. If you want to take this to a whole next level, every 20 minutes, don’t just remove your eyes, but also get up and move around.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology claims that looking at computer screens doesn’t necessarily hamper your vision. However, it can give you unpleasant symptoms and strain. Typically, humans blink 15 times every minute.

This time reduces to less than half while staring at computer screens. As a result, your eyes ought to feel dry, tired, and irritated. The eye strain that comes from a computer has a term – computer vision syndrome (CVS).

Since this is the digital age, methods like this can be handy for working professionals. Along with an ergonomic office desk lighting setup, these tricks can significantly avoid eye strain.

Final Words

Too much lighting, or too little light? Well, this depends from person to person and from task to task. In any case, using LED desk lamps that have adjustable brightness can set a perfect ambiance level. It’s pretty easy to achieve ergonomic desk lighting.

Don’t forget the tried and tested method of the 20-20-20 rule. Even with proper lighting, gazing at your PC screen all day can be daunting. And that’s all for ergonomic office lighting!