Types of work area illumination

Work area illumination can be performed as natural or artificial. Sunlight, horizon, moon, and stars make natural illumination, electric radiant sources - lamps make artificial one, there’s also combined illumination including both previous types.

Natural illumination can be arranged as side, overhead and combined lighting.

Side lighting: the use of daylight apertures on the walls of buildings to provide daylight on tasks. It can be one-sided and two-sided.

Overhead lighting: daylighting concepts in the roof of a building that provide light from above to illuminate horizontal, sloped, or vertical work planes.

Combined lighting comprises overhead and side one.

Artificial illumination can be performed as general and combined lighting.

General illumination is lighting system, in which luminaries are set in overhead space of the area (as lowest 2.5 m above the floor) uniformly (general uniform lighting) or focused over the work planes (general focal lighting).

Combined lighting comprises general and focal one. It provides high visual acuity. Luminaries focusing their luminous flux directly in work plane create focal lighting. Application of only focal lighting in work areas is not recommended at all to prevent occupational accidents and diseases.

Depending on functional purpose artificial illumination is classified as work, emergency, evacuation, security and stand-by lighting.

Work lighting provides visibility needed for production, moving, transporting and is obligate for all occupational areas.

Emergency lighting is aimed at preventing explosion, fire, injuries, damages etc, when the work lighting is occasionally shutdown.

The purpose of evacuation lighting is to assist evacuation in condition when work lighting is off. It’s mounted in passages of personality, in areas with personality, which may count over 100 persons present there simultaneously, in stairwells, in occupational areas with personality over 50 persons.

Security lighting is set at perimeter of secured territory.

Stand-by lighting is foreseen in overtime.