Besides the ergonomical design of a product or a workflow, there are several environmental factors which may affect your fitness at work. These environmental factors have some subjective part (personal comfort zone) but there are some basic aspects which should be kept in mind for an optimal working atmosphere.
Why is light important?
Light has a direct effect on your eyes and an indirect effect on your concentration. Too weak light stresses the eye muscles (constant re-focusing), resulting in rapid fatigue. You may know this effect from reading a book with dim lights.
The same effect happens when high precision tasks like pipetting are to be done – resulting in a higher risk for errors like swapped samples or wrong volume settings. Too bright light has similar effects.
Light illuminance
The illuminance of light can be measured. This light power is the summed-up luminous flux incident on a surface. The luminous flux is measured per base area.
The illuminance is measured in lux [lx]. An alternative unit is "lumens per square metre" [lum].
In some countries, a non-metric unit of illuminance is used, the foot-candle [fc].
Color of light
The color of light is measured in Kelvin. Based on EN 12464-1, three areas can be differentiate
Type of light sources
Standard bulb versus neon lamp versus LED
Light power at working area
The EN 12464-1 provides some information about minimum light power at standard working spaces.
Office desks should have in general at least 500-1,000 Lux.
Technical drawings shuld be done with at least 750 lux.
For laboratory work there are currently no official recommendations, but the 750 lux should be a good starting point.
Keep in mind to have more light for high precision tasks (compare to doctors at surgeries!)
If working with electronic instruments like centrifuges or pipettes adjust the brightness of the display. Too bright displays in a dimmed room may disturb the eyes.
Natural day light
Never forget: The best light comes from outside!
Daylight with it`s unique spectrum regulates physiological processes as well as the circadian rhythm of humans.
Thus a good laboratory has big windows with blinds against direct sunlight.
Noise is a very complex topic and has several impacts on your personal comfort zone.
Noise in general disturbs concentration and – in case of long-term strain - may lead to cardio-vascular diseases. In general, it is recommended to keep the noise-level as low as possible in order to ensure stress-free and concentrated work.
Besides the absolute noise level, the frequency of the noise level has some subjective effect. Very high as well as very low frequencies can stress a person.
Noise measurement
The absolute noise level is measured in dB(A).
Keep in mind that an increase of 10 dB(A) is felt as a doubling of the subjective noise level.
As a rule of thumb, a modest talking with 40 dB (A) is felt to be 8x louder than normal breathing with 10 dB (A).
Noise level10
There are some recommendations for office work:
Unfortunately, there are no dedicated and commonly known thresholds for lab work. Still, you may keep the office values as a benchmark value.
Influence air
Following factors influence our wellness:
For bureaus following recommendations apply:
In order to improve air quality open the windows for 10 min daily if allowed in your lab.