Lighting for Work Equipment

The employer must ensure that suitable and sufficient lighting, which takes account of the operations to be carried out, is provided at any place where anyone uses work equipment.

If the normal workplace lighting meets this requirement for all tasks on all work equipment then special lighting need not be provided. However, the employer's risk assessment may conclude that:

• certain items of work equipment may need local lighting of particular areas during use;
• certain tasks on one or more items may need improved lighting for the duration of those tasks.

When determining what lighting is required so that equipment can be used safely and without risk to health, the employer may need to consider various characteristics such as brightness (to avoid eyestrain), glare (to avoid hazards becoming concealed in the surroundings that become relatively dark due to pupil contraction), colour (to ensure that hazards do not become less visible where critical parts of the spectrum are absent), direction (to ensure that shadows do not pose a hazard), and other factors.