“The best time to install new upgraded lighting is before you have a problem. You will want to look at all areas inside and outside to determine what is best for your facility,” suggested Jon Puterbaugh, a Technician for City Facilities Management whose responsibilities include facility operation and maintenance.

Illuminated light switch

One exciting development in the healthcare environment is tunable LED light fixtures that allow patients to choose varying light colors and intensities for different times of the day.

Illumination lighting design

Many organizations are using facility management software to quickly locate equipment, artwork and other facility features in the field, support emergency preparedness, capture institutional knowledge, and accelerate onboarding new employees.

Large facilities, spread out over miles, may contain many types of lights, in buildings, and between buildings. With renovations and expansions, it’s difficult to remember the locations of hundreds or thousands of lights, including bulb sizes, and other components needed to maintain lights.

Facility lighting upgrades may include results such as a reduction in kilowatt-hours, energy cost savings, reduction in maintenance costs, utility rebates, and improved light quality.

This is our house brand light.  We tested lights from several manufacturers before we found one that lived up to our expectations.

It’s clear that lighting is an important component of facility safety and facility management. While there are many options for what types of lighting work best in schools, hospitals and industrial settings, the fact is, once the lighting is installed, it’s the responsibility of the facilities management team to keep the lights up and running.

Strobe lights and back-up alarms tend to get lost in the environment. Not blue spot lights, they literally stick out like a beacon. This light paints a blue dot about 6″ in diameter on the ground in front of or behind a piece of equipment as a vibrant visual aid. If a piece of equipment is coming from around a corner, the light will be there ahead of it giving warning to the pedestrian or other drivers.

Also, although these lights were originally developed with the intention of lighting up the rear of the lift, we are finding that it is becoming more an more common to see them mounted all around the lift.

Illumination movie lamp

Lastly, though not OSHA required in general, we have had many customers tell us that their inspector or their safety advisors required the use of forklift blue spotlight in in heavy use facilities. Basically light has become so prevalent in the industry that it’s getting rare to see large facilities not using them.  Here’s a link to OSHA’s COMMENTARY ON LIGHTS.

“Some of the most exciting technologies associated with facility lighting include daylight harvesting to conserve energy and color temperature selection depending on the day and the space. These innovations can improve the quality of life at a work facility,” said Heather Owens from Cundiff Engineering.

Areas of priority for facility lighting are stairwells, exteriors, parking garages, or any areas where machinery is being used, advised Bobbi McLeod, Lumenal Lighting.

Appropriate lighting, without glare or shadows, can reduce eye fatigue and headaches and prevent workplace incidents by increasing the visibility of moving machinery and other safety hazards.

When considering the types of lights to install in a facility, it’s important to determine where the lights will be placed, the type of traffic in a building, facility hours, the mix of building residents (students, patients, walk-ins), and sustainability/energy consumption.

Brooke Bohme, the Director of Engineering at Children’s Health in Dallas, Texas, has leveraged her experience with critical building information to manage an in-house team who get down and dirty solving problems and doing challenging infrastructure upgrades, including lighting.

The dangers of poor facility lighting include security issues, personal safety issues, litigation opportunities due to injury or crime, added McLeod.

Illuminatinglight meaning

Surprisingly, businesses have found that strobe lights and back-up alarms tend to get lost in the environment. Not blue spot lights, they literally stick out like a beacon. This light paints a blue dot about 6″ in diameter on the ground in front of or behind a piece of equipment as a vibrant visual aid. When a piece of equipment is coming from around a corner, the light will be there ahead of it giving warning to the pedestrian or other drivers.

LED illuminationlights

Illumination lamp car

According to OSHA, in any dark area that does not have permanent or temporary lights, where lights are not working, or where lights are not readily accessible, the employer shall provide portable or emergency lights and ensure that employees do not enter those areas without such lights.

Being in a hospital environment with kids can be intense and stressful, so she’s happy to see things like LED lighting which kids can control with iPads -- making the environment more fun and engaging.

We strongly believe that our forklift blue spotlight is the best among a bloated market.  After purchased many of the competing blue lights to compare, we have found that they all fall behind in quality.  When I say quality I’m not just talking about the construction but also the light quality.  Many of the other units (even ones more expensive than ours) have a very broad and weak beam.  What good does it do to purchase a safety product that isn’t effective?

Healthcare facilities managers face a slew of challenges including being aware of sensitive and sterile environments and minimizing installation interruptions to staff and patients. With their long operating hours and high-density electrical usage, special care should be given to what types of lights are most cost-effective in these environments.

Firstly, safety is paramount in the work place. Often times pedestrians and employees become distracted by paperwork, noise, music, phones or a host of other things while in the warehouse. If not distractions, then blind corners, crossing aisles, and loading docks. With forklifts moving about (especially electrics), this is a recipe for disaster.  See our article on FORKLIFT SAFETY LIGHTS.

When facility lighting is not working properly, facilities managers and maintenance personnel are likely the first to notice outages. Their priority is to “change the lightbulb” and get their facility up and running again.

Some of the most exciting technologies associated with facility lighting include daylight harvesting to conserve energy and color temperature selection depending on the day and the space. These innovations can improve the quality of life at a work facility, said Heather Owens from Cundiff Engineering.

Strobe lights and back-up alarms tend to get lost in the environment. Not blue spot lights, they literally stick out like a beacon. This light paints a blue dot about 6″ in diameter on the ground in front of or behind a piece of equipment as a vibrant visual aid. If a piece of equipment is coming from around a corner, the light will be there ahead of it giving warning to the pedestrian or other drivers.

It’s preferable to install new facility lighting during off-peak hours for the facility, but if the facility operates 24/7, then special arrangements should be made so proper lighting is still available while new lights are installed.

This is our house brand light.  We tested lights from several manufacturers before we found one that lived up to our expectations.