What you NEED to know about warehouse and factory lighting

Date Published: September 6, 2022, Last Updated on September 9, 2022 by David Briggs

Commercial lighting in warehouses and factories isn’t just about prettying-up the place – it also plays a crucial role in:

• Allowing your team to do their work
• Keeping everyone safe
• Reducing workplace errors

It’s an important role – and that makes it something that you can’t get wrong.

Poor factory or warehouse lighting in warehouses and factories greatly affects the safety of your workers as well as their ability to do their jobs. Not only that, but it can also have a huge impact on your bottom line as well.

Luckily, by following these electrical tips (courtesy of our commercial Electricians in Melbourne), you’ll be able to ensure that your facility is bright, well-lit and most importantly, safe!

The importance of good lighting in manufacturing and warehousing

Reduces accidents

We all know that good lighting can reduce accidents by allowing your team to see what they’re doing. Bright lights, as well as task lighting both help reduce accidents. Additionally, good lighting can also reduce tripping hazards – an absolute must have in factory and warehouse settings.

However, that isn’t the only way that your lighting can reduce accidents!

The best lighting fixtures at your warehouse or factory can also affect the mood as well as alertness of your workers.

Poor factory lighting can make them feel sleepy, while good lighting can make them stay alert and active. Not only does this impact productivity, but this also reduces the chances of them slipping up and making a mistake.

Protects the health of the workers

Healthy workers mean a healthy business. And that starts by making sure that the little things – including your lighting – are up to scratch.

Poor lighting can bring about headaches, dizziness, and affect their mental health (especially for people working the overnight shift).

Luckily, the right lighting solution can help alleviate these issues, reducing illness and keeping your team healthy.

Reduces work errors

Good lighting doesn’t just reduce accidents – it also reduces mistakes as well.

Really, there isn’t much else that needs to be said for this!

Poor lighting – in particular, bad task lighting – also affects employees’ ability to see what they’re doing. For work that requires a high degree of finesse, bad lighting can mean mistakes and errors, and that in turn means waste.

Good light means a safer workplace

The big overhead lights and task lights aren’t the only lights you need to worry about – you’ll also need to think about emergency lighting as well.

Does your factory or warehouse:

• Have lighting for corridors?
• Use a hardwired or battery system for emergency exit lighting?
• Have properly lit storage and equipment cupboards?
• Use aisle lighting for power outages?

Warehouse and factory lighting tips

Think about your processes and stations

Our commercial electrician in Melbourne has mentioned task lighting several times above.

When deciding how you’re going to implement task lighting, you need to start by looking at what sort of tasks your team does on a typical day.

Start by breaking down all of your processes and stations, paying particular attention to the ones that require a high degree of finesse and control.

Once you’ve taken stock, the next step is to get in touch with a commercial electrical service in Melbourne about getting task lighting installed at the work stations that need it most.

Consider your warehouse lay-out

When planning and installing lighting in your warehouse and factory, always keep in mind your lay-out of the open space. Not only does this determine the placement of the lighting, but it also determines the places where you shouldn’t install lights as well.

For example, say you run a warehouse.

In these cases, your lighting needs to line up with aisles – installing lights directly above shelving and racks can create strong shadows that actually hurt visibility.

Choose the right colour temperature

Poor lighting affects the mood, concentration and productivity of your staff. Part of that is how strong your lighting is – another is whether or not you’ve chosen the right colour temperature of your lights.

That’s right, colour temperature isn’t just about aesthetics!

In areas where staff will mostly need to read labels and input information, it is best to provide reading lights. Keep the Colour Rendering Index (CRI) in mind and choose lights with a CRI that is above 85.

Energy-efficiency matters

You’re well aware that warehouses and factories consume a lot more energy than most other types of businesses – according to the ABS, in 2014-2015, manufacturing operations like yours spent almost $5.4 billion on electricity.

While much of that is probably thanks to your manufacturing process, we’re willing to bet that a lot of that is also going towards lighting!

With 24/7 operations and long work shifts, warehouses and factories are busy for most of the time.

Not only that, but they’re using their lights a lot more than other types of businesses, and running up their power bills doing so.

In addition to maintaining and repairing your lighting setup, lighting upgrades are also among our electrical services in Melbourne. We’ll upgrade your lighting arrangement with a more energy-efficient system that’s just as bright and powerful as your current one!

Choose LED lighting

If you’re upgrading your factory or warehouse lighting, then LED lighting is the way to go!

While proper placement is necessary to ensure visibility, the type of lighting you choose also has an important role to play.

Compared to traditional bulbs, LED lights output just as many lumens (the measure of brightness) with a fraction of the power – in some cases, LEDs can save your business up to 80% on your lighting costs compared to halogens, incandescent, and CFL lights.

Finally, they also have an insanely long useful life as well, with many going up to 10 years without the need for replacement. While electricity usage might be the biggest cost, you can’t forget about the cost of getting a commercial electrician to replace all your lights every couple of years!

Consider lighting control options

The type of bulb isn’t the only way you can bring down your electricity usage – another way is to think about your lighting control options.

For most factories and warehouses, your control pretty much extends to “on” and “off”.

But what if you could do more?

For example, what if during overcast days where there’s natural light but it isn’t quite bright enough to adequately light everything? If only there was a way to turn the lights on halfway.

Good news: our electrician in Melbourne electrical service can do just that!

Our commercial electricians can install a range of power-saving light control options such as:

• Motion sensors that only activate your lights when you need them
• Brightness controls that let you tailor how bright your lights are
• Light sensors that adjust light brightness to match natural lighting conditions

All of these allow you to take granular control of your lighting – and more importantly, they help you save money!

Our commercial electricians in Melbourne can help light up your warehouse or factory

Looking for an electrician near you? Call Briggs Electrical today!

Good lighting is key in any workplace – especially in factories and warehouses.

And the first step in building a better lighting system is to get in contact with a commercial electrician for warehouses in Melbourne!

From electrical fitout and defits, to choosing the type of lighting, to installation day, to ongoing maintenance for your commercial lighting, Briggs Electrical is here to help you.

And it doesn’t just stop with lighting, either – our commercial electricians offer a range of services for warehouses and factories, including:

• Emergency electrical repairs
• Ongoing electrical maintenance
• Electrical circuit upgrades
• Appliance or equipment installation
• Emergency exit lighting
• Security system and CCTV installation

What are you waiting for? Find an experienced Melbourne electrician near you by calling Briggs on 1300 300 222 or schedule an inspection with us today.