As we enter our darkest hours, quality of office lighting needs attention

As we enter the darkest days of the year, office workers in the UK are set to get virtually no natural light. For instance, today (18 December) sunrise in London is at 08:01 and sunset is 15:52, meaning office workers are commuting to and from their offices in the dark. The quality of lighting within many workplaces is often not much better, as despite 80 percent of UK office workers, saying good lighting in their workspace is important to them, two-in-five (40 percent) say they have to deal with uncomfortable lighting every day and a third (32 percent) said better lighting would make them happier at work. However today some Londoner’s will have the chance to get a much-needed dose of light at an uplifting Light Station supplied by Staples at Southwark Bridge tunnel which will be open to the public from 9:00 to 16:15.

Staples says employers can improve staff productivity and mental wellbeing by adopting well-thought out lighting solutions, and by boosting the amount of natural light that employees can get in their working day. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) lamps and biodynamic lighting is also proven to help workers that otherwise suffer from light depravation.

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, from the Alliance Manchester Business School said, “The workplace is really important for the health, wellbeing and performance of employees, so having the right physical and psychological environment is critical. Most people are currently spending more of their daylight hours at work than at home, so lighting is clearly an important part of getting the balance right at work.”   

To find out more about how lighting effects office workers, download the Staples Solutions report here: