Lighting and Productivity in the Industrial Working Place

Lighting-related parameters like visual performance and alertness, together with motivation, are assumed to influence productivity, wherever productivity is related to human performance. To test the impact of lighting level on productivity five case studies were started in 2003 and 2004. Studies have been finalized and a number of conclusions can be drawn. Lighting influences productivity if productivity is related to human performance. Productivity increases as illuminance levels rise. This paper considers also the question: “What happens if we change and improve the lighting in an industrial workplace?” Installing a new system of illumination in the workplace can affect the individual’s performance level in a variety of ways. The following mechanisms are described and discussed: visual performance, visual comfort, visual ambience, interpersonal relationships, biological clock, stimulation, job satisfaction, problem solving, the halo effect and change process.