Everything You Need to Know About Safe Jobsite Lighting

Everything You Need to Know About Safe Jobsite Lighting

Is Your Jobsite Meeting Legal Lighting Requirements

OSHA Lighting Requirements
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates workplace safety. Jobsite lighting falls under these regulations and has specific safety standards that must be upheld to maintain a safe work site.
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Construction sites need to be well lit so workers can see what they are doing thereby decreasing the likelihood of workplace injuries. Workers can get hurt and businesses can be sued if the proper lighting isn’t set up for your jobsite.
 
Foot Candles and Lumens

*Note: a foot candle is a unit of illuminance or illumination, equivalent to the illumination produced by a source of one candle at a distance of one foot and equal to one lumen incident per square foot

OSHA uses foot-candles to describe their lighting requirements. However, most use Lumens as a way to measure light intensity. To convert Foot Candles to Lumens, multiply the required number of foot candles by the area that needs illumination (in sqft) to get the number of lumens you need.
For example, if you need 5-foot candles as a requirement to light your 300 square foot construction site, then you need at least 1,500 Lumens to light the area.
 
**EHSInsight provides an easy guide to OSHA’s lighting requirements for various types of jobsites:

• First-aid stations, offices, and infirmaries: 30 foot-candles
• General construction plants and shops: 10 foot-candles
• General construction area: 5 foot-candles
• Warehouses, walkways, corridors, exits, and other indoor spaces: 5 foot-candles
• General underground work areas, including shafts and tunnels: 5 foot-candles
• Concrete placement, waste areas, loading platforms, active storage areas, field maintenance areas, refueling areas, and excavation sites: 3 foot-candles

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***You can search specific regulations on the OSHA’s website

→ Read More: Is Your Jobsite Meeting Legal Lighting Requirements

How to Create a Lighting Plan for Jobsites

​Create a Plan

1. Draw out the project area noting types of work and locations of workers and equipment
2. Determine the need of stationary and portable lighting
3. Consider how you are going to power these lights
4. Choose a Light source
5. Place the lights and do a field observation for glare and shadows

 
Ensure You are Complying with OSHA Lighting Regulations
When you consider your lighting options, you need to keep OSHA lighting safety standards in mind.

Figure 1. OSHA Standards, https://www.forconstructionpros.com/business/construction-safety/article/12043044/how-to-create-a-lighting-plan-for-night-construction

Types of Construction Lighting You Can Use

​Light Towers
These lights are attached to a generator trailer that can be attached and moved by another vehicle. 

Roadway Luminaires Mounted on Temporary Poles
Permanent roadway lighting fixture mounted on temporary poles and hard wired to an electrical system.

Balloon Lights
Large balloon shaped luminaire that provides a large illumination area with less glare.

LED Lighting
Durable, efficient, and cooler than other lighting options. 

→ Read More: How to Create a Plan For Jobsite Lighting

Lighting Temperature: What is it and How it Affects My Jobsite Lighting Plan

What is Lighting Color or Color Temperature?
Work lighting ranges from warm (orange tinted) to cold (blue tinted). See the chart below to see a visual representation of this range.

Color Temperature describes the tint or warmth of color from the lighting.
 
Kelvin and Lighting Color
Kelvin is the measurement used when describing color temperature. The higher the Kelvin (K) the cooler the color, the lower the K the warmer the color.
Jobsite lighting can range from warm (typical of halogen lighting 3,200K) to cool (typical of LED lighting 4,000K and up) temperatures.

→ Read More: Lighting Temperature: What is it and How it Affects My Jobsite Lighting Plan

Lighting Solutions For Your Jobsite

Roadway and Traffic Control Lighting
You need bright lighting that can be focused away from incoming cars, to ensure the safety of your workers and the drivers in the area.

Choose SiteLites Quad LED Light to light your Roadway construction site. 

Night-time Large Construction Site Lighting
You need a bright portable light with a large throw distance to cover your large construction area, so heavy equipment and workers can operate effectively and safely during night-time operations.

Choose SiteLites Mono LED Lighting to light your night-time construction site.

Renovations and New Construction Interior Lighting
You need a portable LED light that is lightweight, can be moved easily, very bright, and keeps cool.

Choose SiteLites Floor LED Lighting to light your renovation or interior construction lighting solution.

​Attic, Mechanic, Agricultural Lighting
You need a portable magnetic LED light that is battery powered and keeps cool when you’re working in tight spots like an attic. The magnetic capability allows you to work with both hands-on engines or stick on a tractor for extra lighting.

Choose SiteLites Magnetic LED Lighting for your attic, mechanic, and agriculture lighting solution.

→ Read More: Lighting Solutions for Your Jobsite

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Everything You Need to Know About Safe Jobsite Lighting

Choose SiteLites

If you want to cut costs while safely lighting up your space, you should look to a company experienced with LED solutions. SiteLites specializes in lighting solutions with our family of LED work lights designed around customer safety.

SiteLites's expertise with power management solutions is a critical aspect of ensuring your LED performance. LED’s, while operating at low heat, are sensitive to exposure. SiteLites has implemented solutions such as cast-aluminum heat sinks and adaptive power prioritization that will keep your bulbs running.

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SiteLites provide the perfect LED work light for your project. All SiteLites lights are AC/DC power capable, so you can power your lights with vehicle ports, generators, and standard extensions cords & outlets.