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Night shift lighting in 24/7 companies

By Rofianda

Projekte Licht 2.jpg

About 24/7 companies

Several companies in the Netherlands work 24/7 for va-rious reasons. For example, companies with insufficient production capacity to complete their orders in 1 or 2 shifts. Other companies simply cannot interrupt their processes because they are continuous processes and batch production is not possible. This is the case, for example, in the (petro)chemical industry but also in the production of aluminum, for example. Provided it is not 100% automated, this type of company employs people working the night shift. Both in production itself and in control rooms to monitor the processes 24/7 in the context of safety. Night shifts are of course also worked in sectors such as (health) ca-re, security and the hotel industry.

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The challenge

 

The human biorhythm - biological clock - is an innate mechanism that controls the production of various hormones. Among other things, it is based on sunlight. As a result, people are active during the day (through cortisol) and want to sleep at night (through melatonin). Disruption of this biorhythm can lead to both physical and psychological symptoms. 

Headaches, fatigue, insomnia and depression are the most well-known problems. The symptoms themselves are annoying but so are the consequences. For example, people with a disturbed biorhythm make (many) more mistakes at work and the risk of traffic accidents, for example, is also greater. Such a disturbance can occur in people who regularly work night shifts. When the sun has disap-peared outside, they still produce a large amount of the hormone cortisol due to the abundance of light in indoor spaces. This keeps them alert and fit. This is beneficial for the work itself, but creates problems when they walk from the bright control room to the dark factory halls and when they go home at the end of the night. Squinting eyes and hormone fluctuations lead to headaches and dis-comfort.

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The solution

For an aluminum manufacturer, Rofianda wrote the first lighting plan to combat disruption of bi-orhythms while maintaining "alertness. The solution lay in indoor lighting whose strength runs parallel to the sunlight outside. The amount of sunlight outside is measured by a sensor.

When the sun shines full, and the illumi-nation level exceeds 10,000 lux, the indoor lighting is on full strength. This light comes from full spectrum sunlight LED panels which means employees receive the same light they would outside. When the sun sets, and the amount of light falls below 10,000 lux, a Helvar system controls the indoor lighting back to 300 lux. Despite the sharp reduction in indoor light levels, the blue component in the light spectrum remains high enough to keep employees alert enough to perform their jobs efficiently and safely.

Results

 

The results of this pilot project were widely studied among the aluminum producer's staff through interviews and surveys. This showed that Rofianda's theory worked out as planned: employees reported no more headaches, no more tired eyes and no problems with their biorhythms. In other words, the night shift had become easier, driving home presented no problems, and even sleeping after arriving home went without a hitch. Owner of Rofianda and creator of the solution Ronald Gronsveld: "When the results reached the HR department, enthusiasm for this form of lighting during the night shift was quickly generated here as well. Meanwhile, the concept has also been noticed by companies in the chemical industry, maintenance companies and the medical sector."

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