A bustling hub of activity that often operates around the clock to meet tight deadlines, construction sites can be rather chaotic environments with risk of injury around every corner. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), inadequate lighting is a leading factor in many construction site accidents, with its role in site safety being absolutely critical. Amidst heavy machinery, towering scaffolding and numerous workers moving in unison to complete common objectives, ensuring safety is paramount to long-term safety standards and efficiency of the site. Exploring five key roles lighting plays, here are all the ways lighting can help sites remain safe at all times:
#1: Enhanced Visibility
It goes without saying that construction sites can be complex environments that can be difficult to navigate and work in safely without running into potential hazards. Poor lighting will further complicate situations, obscuring obstacles, tools and machinery, all of which increase the risk of accidents. By ensuring areas are well illuminated, workers will have far greater visibility of these hazards, reducing their likelihood of trips, slips and falls on items they were unaware of. Hazards such as uneven surfaces can be tricky to spot at the best of times, let alone with limited lighting, therefore making effective lighting essential at identifying threats before they have a chance to claim a victim and cause an unnecessary injury.
#2: Improved Precision
Requiring a great deal of skill and focus, construction work often requires a great deal of precision when cutting materials, assembling components and operating machinery. A common observation from all of these tasks? They demand clear visibility in order to ensure a high level of accuracy! Simply put, poor lighting can lead to mistakes, resulting in reworks or compromised quality, all of which can put delays on project completion or worse, harming long-term safety once the project is finished due to poor work being more at risk of failure. The solution? Bright, well-distributed lighting that allows workers to perform their tasks with greater precision, thus improving the overall quality of construction. A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found a direct correlation between proper lighting and worker performance, showing that effective lighting almost always led to better craftsmanship and reduced error rates compared to unsatisfactory lighting alternatives.
#3: Heightened Security
Due to the high volume of valuable machinery and materials commonly found at construction sites, they have long been targets for opportunistic thieves and vulnerable to vandalism, especially in poorly lit areas. By providing adequate illumination via overhead spotlights or NCFs (Non Corrosive Fittings), lighting can provide an imposing deterrent to unauthorised access and criminal activities, making potential thieves think twice before attempting something. Well-lit perimeters and storage areas make it harder for thieves to operate unnoticed while subsequently making it easier for security personnel to effectively monitor the sites safety. Overall this will help keep equipment safe, reducing unnecessary delays and costs from having to source replacements.
#4: Improved Emergency Response
Every second counts in an emergency. While on site, in the event there is a fire, structural collapse or medical incident, a quick, calm and efficient response is absolutely critical. In these times of need, the last thing needed is poor lighting as this will limit visibility of emergency exits, escape routes and H&S equipment, greatly increasing the risk in what can be life and death situations. By providing proper illumination with traditional as well as emergency lighting methods (for instance green emergency exit signs), workers can effectively navigate sites to get themselves to safety or seek equipment needed to help workers in distress. Helping to shave off precious seconds that would be wasted scrambling around trying to locate the right emergency solution, effective lighting will reduce the risk of spending more seconds at risk when things do go wrong, potentially saving a life.
#5: Enhancing Wellbeing
Not solely limited to improving working safety and performance, effective lighting can also provide considerable day-to-day health benefits to workers on site. While poor lighting can contribute towards eye strain, headaches and fatigue that all harm employee wellbeing and workplace productivity, well planned lighting can have the opposite effects, providing a one-two boost to mental and physical wellbeing. Benefitting both workers and site managers, having calmer employees will naturally boost productivity and focus throughout the day, meaning more work gets done to a higher standard while risk of negligence (that can cause accidents) is reduced, everyone wins! It’s a simple equation really; effective lighting = improved mood & reduced stress = improved productivity.
Ensure Certain Safety
In the end, a well-lit construction site is a safer, more efficient, secure site. Far more than just a practical necessity, construction lighting is the cornerstone of site safety and can’t be understated within the modern construction industry. From enhancing visibility and precision to improving security and emergency response, construction companies can create safer, more productive environments that protect their workers and assets, all thanks to thorough lighting strategy. So, next time you step onto a construction site, remember that good lighting isn’t purely about visibility, instead incorporating it effectively to provide workers with a safe and productive environment that allows them to maximise their efficiency without compromising their wellbeing.
Equipped with the latest site lighting technology, Briticent offers a varied range of high quality, robust lighting solutions that are purpose made to provide top quality illumination to all areas of a construction site. Stocking an extensive range of floodlights, Bulkheads, NCFs and more, check out the full range here.