If you were an employer, would you purposely create a work environment that forced your employees to cope with the glare, stress, eyestrain, headaches, and visual fatigue often found on the job? Of course not! Yet millions of people find themselves working under those very conditions, five days a week!
Glare is also known as specular and veiling reflections. Specular reflection is the mirror-like reflection of light off of polished surfaces such as computer displays and metal objects. Veiling reflections are the light rays that bounce off of ceilings, walls, and virtually every surface in their path. Under these conditions, your eyes are continually forced to distinguish the glare from the visual tasks, leading to eyestrain, headaches and general fatigue.
Glare in the visual environment is usually due to an overabundance of light. According to the American Optometric Association, NIOSH, the Illumination Engineering Society (IES), the Human Factors Society, General Electric Corp., and others, the average office environment requires only 20-70 foot-candles (fc) of light in order to perform computer and computer/paper tasks. Yet, in stark contrast, most work sites measure 80-120 fc of light!
While many think of carpal tunnel syndrome as the leading workplace complaint, vision-related problems are reported by 61-80% of those who work on computers for 6 or more hours per day. When we think of stress in the workplace, we are likely to think about deadlines, overbearing supervisors, etc. What we also need to consider is the visual stress we put our eyes through each day. If bright, glary lighting is present we tend to squint our eyes, causing our facial muscles to contract. Over the course of the day, this can lead to a tension headache, eyestrain and visual fatigue.
It is not only our “adult” workplace that is affected; our children suffer as well. A recent daylighting and productivity study performed by the Heschong Mahone Group in Fair Oaks, CA for Pacific Gas & Electric has shown that natural daylight in the classroom can increase students' overall math and reading skills by 21%!
In a companion study, natural daylight used in retail sales venues increased sales as much as 40%! Click HERE to download both studies from the Heschong Mahone Group.
What is the Solution?
You can take care of the problem at its source by using a NaturaLux Filter. When using a NaturaLux™ Prismatic Panel, you not only reduce the over abundance of light to more acceptable levels; you also reduce the veiling reflections from the ceiling area. In an open lighting fixture, such as those found in grocery stores, warehouses, etc., the NaturaLux™ Tube Guards and DirectaLux Tube Guards also reduce the volume of light to acceptable levels, while converting the cool white light into color-balanced light.
As you can clearly see, by using NaturaLux™ Filters you can increase productivity and morale while decreasing glare and stress. No matter how you look at it, NaturaLux Filters are good for business!
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