Winter work hazards: poor lighting

Is poor lighting a workplace hazard?

Poor lighting is a dangerous workplace hazard.  It has a detrimental effect on employee's health and safety while at work and can cause poor health and accidents in the workplace.  As a result, employers must do the following in the workplace:

• carry out good practice in terms of health and safety and lighting
• assessing poor lighting risks
• managing poor lighting risks

The reason poor lightning is a workplace hazard is because it prevents employees from seeing other workplace hazards early enough to avoid them. Therefore, for employers to know what type of adequate lighting their workplace should have, they need to understand the potential hazards in their workplace.

How are people affected by poor lighting?

People are affected by poor lighting in the workplace in many ways. Poor lighting in the workplace can mean:

• eyestrain
• migraines
• headaches
• Sick Building Syndrome
• poor concentration
• irritability
• lethargy
• poor mental health 
• stress
• anxiety

When thinking about lighting in the workplace, employers must consider the type of work their employees carry out. For example, whether workers are working indoors or outdoors and whether they work in construction or factory work. Where they work with either of the latter, workers may need specialised lighting rather than just general lighting. For example, if they are working with electronic equipment they must ensure natural colours stay natural so that employees know which colour wire they are working with. 

In the construction industry, workers are affected by poor lighting and, therefore, need natural lighting. Where this is not possible or bright enough, artificial lighting is necessary. There are particular points an employer needs to note in the construction industry in terms of adequate lighting such as:

• ensuring artificial light does not affect colours and visibility of signage and safety equipment
• ensure shadowed areas have extra lighting
• allow for emergency lightning where a power cut would mean a worker is in danger
• providing torches where emergency lighting is not possible
• if daylight lighting is not present, ensure emergency routes are well-lit

How does poor lighting cause accidents at work?

Poor lighting can cause accidents at work in many ways. Not only can poor lighting cause poor health and affect employees in terms of symptoms such as headaches, it can also cause physical accidents at work. For example, poor lighting:

• can cause slips and trips at work
• could cause a fall from a height where lighting fails and emergency lighting is not automatically provided
• means you could trip on a loose cable
• where you work in a manual labour job means you are very likely to suffer an injury while at work
• means those working in the industrial sector could suffer significant industrial injuries

Why choose National Accident Helpline?

At National Accident Helpline, making an inadequate lighting claim for a workplace accident is simple. Your accident or poor health from work has already had a detrimental impact on your life, and we will not make that any worse. Our claim process is straightforward. We even let you calculate your potential compensation online by using our compensation calculator. 

The first thing you will do when you have an accident at work with National Accident Helpline is speak to one of our experienced and understanding telephone advisors. Their job is to find out how poor lighting caused your poor health or accident at work. Effectively they start assessing whether you may be able to claim compensation. After this, one of our expert solicitors will complete your compensation claim.

You can even make your accident at work claim on a no-win no-fee basis. When you make a no win no fee claim with us your personal injury lawyer will take out insurance on your behalf that will cover all your claim costs and expenses including medical report fees, court fees and any barrister fees; so long as you comply with their terms and conditions, you won't have to pay any costs upfront, and there are no hidden surprises. Call us today at to make your compensation claim. You can always request a call back here if it is easier or begin your claim online.