GET THE LIGHTING RIGHT ON YOUR CONSTRUCTION SITE
When planning any new groundwork, highway, rail or excavation project, one of the first considerations must be to ensure a safe working environment for your workforce.
The quicker a potential hazard can be spotted, it can be avoided. But the provision of sufficient lighting is generally the responsibility of a contractor.
When working in environments where natural light is poor or not available, such as underground, at night or in tunnels, adequate temporary construction site lighting is necessary to ensure not only the safety but also the productivity of the workers, and that the work carried out be executed properly.
The types of hazard present and the specific work being carried out will determine the lighting requirements for a safe operation.
Adequate lighting on construction sites guarantees staff’s safety and health, enables workers to detect and avoid hazards more easily, increases productivity, efficiency and working hours, helps to prevent unwanted trespassers, and ensures the delivery of high-quality work.
In addition, it can be employed to carry out works at night, or when daylight is poor and not enough to complete the work or when construction activities such as concreting, are required to be done at night, because of a high daytime ambient temperature.
Construction Site Lighting
Temporary construction site lighting can be used to illuminate general movement and work within the site itself, externally for proper illumination of the works areas, site access and egress routes, storage and circulation areas and can also be an effective form of security used to deter trespassers.
The Health and Safety Executive states the following regarding construction site lighting https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/site-lighting.htm
Every part of a construction site that is in use should, as far as possible, be arranged so that natural light is available for people to see to do their work and move about the site safely. Where natural light is inadequate or not available, artificial lighting should be provided.
In addition, where work will continue outside daylight hours or the building or structure is enclosed, artificial lighting will be required.
The HSE also states that any artificial lighting in use does not change the apparent colour or visibility of any safety signs or other safety related items such as fire extinguishers.
When using both daylight and artificial light, it can cause shadows which can obscure hazards, so where necessary sites should make provision for extra lighting to illuminate shadow areas.
Where failure of the primary artificial lighting would be a risk to the health or safety of anyone e.g. someone working on a tower scaffold in a basement may fall while trying to descend in the dark, provide emergency lighting.
Where it is not possible to have lighting that comes on automatically when the primary lighting fails, torches or other similar lights may provide suitable lighting.
Secondary artificial lighting should be provided where the failure of the main source could pose a health and safety risk.
Any emergency routes should be illuminated at all times, either through natural or emergency lighting.
Avoiding hazards on a construction site is made much easier when potential hazards can be seen. This can be a particular issue during winter months but, with many large scale or tunneling projects running 24 hours a day, providing adequate lighting is a key consideration all year round, above and below ground level.
Lighting Levels
According to the HSE, to illuminate the movement of people, machines and vehicles in hazardous areas, doing ‘rough’ work which doesn’t require any perception of detail, such as on a construction site, or when undertaking clearance, excavation and soil work the recommended average illuminance is 50 Lux, while the minimum measured illuminance should never fall below 20 Lux.
In more broader detail however, there are generally three main levels of lighting or classification of illumination for a range of work zone considerations. They are:
Level 1: All work operations areas; Level 1 illuminance is important in areas where the work crews are in motion, moving from spot to spot. This level of illuminance is appropriate for tasks requiring low accuracy, involving slow moving equipment, and where there are large objects to be seen. It is recommended that Level 1 illuminance maintains a minimum of 40 lux.
Level 2: Level 2 illuminance is recommended for areas on or around construction equipment to provide a safer environment for the workers operating the equipment, allowing them to perform tasks that require a moderate level of accuracy. It is recommended that Level 2 illuminance maintains a minimum of 80 lux.
Level 3: Level 3 illuminance is appropriate for those tasks that require a greater level of visual awareness or for tasks with a higher level of complexity, either within or external to the site. It is recommended that Level 3 illuminance maintains a minimum of 160 lux
Battery Powered Lighting for Groundworks, Road, Rail & Excavations
Core Lighting, experts in battery powered lighting solutions have created a range of battery powered floodlights that have been designed to provide instant, temporary lighting for any construction, groundworks, highways rail or excavation project, without the need for cables or a secondary power source.
They provide extremely high brightness and come with a rugged outdoor rated design to cope with even the worst of the UK weather.
The CORE FLOOD is ideal for fast deployment to quickly light large scenes, areas, car parks, training grounds, arenas and requires no planning permission in most places. Also available with 100-240V input. The head sits on a tripod stand at 3.2m and the very portable lightweight battery unit hangs from the frame.
The CORE FLOOD PRO offers a portable lighting system with an incredibly powerful 24,000 lumen floodlight, complete with battery unit and charger all in a self-carry rugged shoulder kit bag. It can be attached to the lightweight tripod to light a work area up to 2700 sqm. It has an exceptional run time on full brightness of over seven hours for overnight work which can be extended up to 35 hours by adjusting the brightness.
The CORE FLOODBOX offers a very fast setup in seconds to quickly light up large work areas, car parks, roads and pathways and is based around a rugged wheeled carry case which requires no further arms or supports. With an inbuilt charger, the single or dual heads sit on a mountable pole which can be extended up to 2m. Each head can be tilted through 360 degrees and the whole head unit set in four positions horizontally through 360 degrees. It provides over four hours lifespan on full brightness, lengthened by adjusting brightness to over 25 hrs
Why is adequate lighting so important on construction and building sites?
Construction and industrial sites are often dangerous work environments – workers need to be able to work on and navigate a site safely and adequate lighting prevents injuries and accidents.
Adequate construction site lighting is required to keep sites running efficiently especially throughout winter afternoons and evenings when days are shorter and visibility is reduced to ensure jobs are done correctly and to a high quality.
Construction site lighting protects visitors and workers by exposing potential hazards allowing people to safely move around a site especially near large objects e.g. containers which can throw shadows over hazardous areas.
Proper lighting is essential for the safe movement of vehicles around a site especially when navigating around people and equipment.
