Why office workers can’t sleep at night

When office workers spend 90 per cent of their time indoors, lighting is more than functional. The best lighting is human-centric, enhancing wellbeing while helping building owners to create healthy workplaces.

For millennia, human beings set their body clocks to the sun.

The advent of artificial lighting may have changed the working world. But it didn’t change human biology, and a healthy “sleep and wake balance” remains an essential requirement of a happy and productive life, says RMIT lecturer and Eagle Lighting Australia specialist Ian Johnson.

“When the sun rises in the morning, we naturally receive a dose of light in the blue part of the spectrum which encourages the production and release of serotonin – the hormone which makes us feel alert and alive,” Johnson explains.

“This blue light makes us feel good and aids our concentration levels which, in turn, makes us more productive.

“As the sun sinks in the west, we naturally receive light that is much stronger in the red part of the spectrum. This allows the production of melatonin which is the hormone that encourages good quality and restorative sleep.

“Even if we are stuck indoors in an office, factory, school room, hospital or warehouse, our bodies still crave this daily cycle of short wave blue light to long wave red light from morning to evening.”

When our circadian rhythm – our 24-hour internal clock – is disrupted, we can feel listless during the day, and unable to get a restful night’s sleep. This can affect mood, concentration and productivity, not to mention health and safety if we are driving or operating machinery.

“People are generally exposed to too little light in the office during the day and too much light in the evening,” Johnson adds.

Exposure of more than 1,000 lux is necessary for human health, but most people in offices get less than 0 lux. In comparison, those who work outdoors are exposed to 100,000 lux.

Human-centric lighting, or circadian lighting, adapts to follow the patterns of normal daylight.

“This helps your body’s hormone balance to adjust naturally throughout the day so that you feel alert when required and sleepy and relaxed at the right time,” Johnson explains.

While there are many variables that influence how individuals respond to light, “we do know that people say human-centric lighting makes them feel better – more alert, more productive and happier”.

Human-centred lighting is readily available today, “and it is also more energy efficient and requires less maintenance than traditional lighting,” Johnson adds.

But there’s more to good lighting than just flicking a switch.

“Correctly designed and integrated lighting brings together a deep understanding of user needs, lighting applications and scientific insights to create evidence-based lighting solutions. This is the best way to optimise not only vision, but health, wellbeing and performance.”

Eagle Lighting Australia designs and manufactures a large range of luminaires in its state-of-the art-facility in Melbourne. Learn more about Eagle Lighting.