September 2019

SPECIAL FOCUS Premises & Facilities Management September 2019 www.pwemag.co.uk Plant & Works Engineering | 51 which uses daylight to offset the amount of electric lighting needed to properly illuminate an area. Zone-by-zone or even luminaire-by- luminaire control is achievable and LED luminaires also have the ability to be integrated with building management systems. Welfare state Creating the correct environment for the safe working is vital. Regulation 8 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations simply requires that lighting at work is ‘suitable and sufficient’, however, the Health & Safety Executive’s (HSE) Lighting at Work booklet (HSG 38) sets out minimum recommended safe lighting levels and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) offers guidelines regarding light levels required in correlation to workplace activities, stating that warehouses should have 150-200 Lux at floor level and 300 Lux in task areas. This is still a guide and each project should be designed to its own particular requirements. As well as providing a brighter work area, better uniformity and improved colour perception, this also leads to enhanced general wellbeing. Poor quality lighting can cause eyestrain, headaches, lethargy, irritability and low levels of concentration, so it should come as no surprise that employees who are more comfortable are also more productive. According to the Building Research Establishment (BRE), people in Europe spend around 90% of their time indoors and it is therefore clear that putting human health and wellbeing front and centre is vital. As well as improving productivity, any investment in a human centric lighting system will be returned through less absence through illness and highly motivated personnel. In fact, a Gensler survey found that 90% of employees admitted that their attitude to work is adversely affected by the quality of their workplace environment. Selection procedure Implementing an LED lighting retrofit can be somewhat intimidating and while the technological developments associated with this technology are impressive, the pitfalls of selecting a poor quality product can be significant. Premature product failure and the associated costs, poor lumen output, low lm/W and inefficient design can compromise a lighting scheme and prohibit a solid ROI. Initial price should never be the sole purchasing criterion and although it might be tempting to specify lower cost products, as reliability reduces so will profit margins. Therefore, it is essential to buy from a reputable manufacturer that can back-up any claims regarding product quality, testing, lifetime expectation and standards compliance, and provide a comprehensive warranty, so that if a product does fail a replacement can be sourced, delivered and installed as quickly as possible. It makes sense to work with manufacturers whose products can be relied on for quality and performance, and which offer a support service that helps ensure that the luminaire type suits the environment in which it will be used. In food manufacturing, for example, ingress protection (IP) rated products that offer protection from dust and pollution will be needed to withstand high pressure and high temperature spray-downs. Also, do not assume that a simple point for point solution will be adequate –consider the existing task/application and identify the correct light level required. Moving on up Making wholesale changes to a building’s lighting infrastructure when it is operational on a 24/7 basis might seem daunting. However, a strategic approach can ensure a fast and efficient installation with minimal disruption to day-to-day activities. With industrial and manufacturing facilities trying to lower the amount of money they spend, while at the same time reducing carbon emissions and enhancing employee wellbeing, LED lighting is the right technology at the right time.