Bad lighting – a workplace hazard?

When spending most of our time indoors, our hormones aren’t regulated by the ultimate source of light – the sun. Instead, they are adapting to the light produced by your choice of artificial sources.

Despite the fact that light has a big impact on our circadian rhythm, where the hormone levels of melatonin and serotonin play an important role, many employers don’t see the lack of light ergonomics as a potential workplace hazard. But the symptoms tell us otherwise. 

Melatonin and serotonin are in charge of regulating our mood as well as our eating- and sleeping habits. When spending most of our time indoors, our hormones aren’t regulated by the ultimate source of light – the sun. Instead, they are adapting to the light produced by your choice of artificial sources. If that light is poor, it sets your hormone levels off track, and in turn, can cause sleeping problems, stress and tiredness.

COMMON SYMPTOMS CAUSED BY POOR LIGHTING:

• Headaches
• Sleeping problems
• Stress
• Tiredness
• Lowered immune system
• Neck, shoulder and back problems
• Lower productivity and more errors being made
• Inability to match or select correct colours

Next article: Optimal lux levels