Most businesses don’t consider office lighting as a means to improve efficiency but various studies have proved that quality light on every workstation can improve employee efficiency and reduce absenteeism by almost as much as improving the office furniture itself.Many office buildings are fitted out by a contractor who installs recessed ceiling lighting according to the layout of the office space, and not according to how your employees will be using the space.

So many of the lighting units are not ideally suited for your office layout and this can make it more difficult  to see computer screens or cause shadows over workstations.

In most cases these lighting units can be easily moved as they are usually wired in with an excess of cable, in much the same way as floor boxes in an raided floor can be easily moved to another proximate location.

In addition these lighting units are usually fairly basic ( there are a lot of them so a few pounds a unit can make a big overall difference in costs), and the only real requirement is that they meet the relevant Health and Safety standards).

These standards are fairly low, in that all that is required is an approved diffuser to reduce glare, and a minimum LUX value per square metre of office space, and this is dependent on what that space is used for.

So, you can appreciate that it is easy for a business owner to overlook the need to assess the lighting requirement in his office. The lighting has already been fitted, and meets relevant standards, and moving them around will involve additional costs for no tangible benefit.

It is therefore very important that you accurately plan your office layout and decide where all of your office furniture is going to go, including any future expansion requirements you may have.
Ideally you should contact a professional in this respect, as they will have the experience with office layouts, a comprehensive understanding of health and safety legislation, and a good understanding of how to use all of the available artificial and natural light that is available.

They can also advise on alternative light sources to supplement what is already on site, and this can be in a number of forms.

The simplest, but most costly, is to replace all of the recessed ceiling lights with natural daylight emulating light sources.

These are typically twice the price of a standard fluorescent lamp, but the difference in light quality has literally to be seen to be believed.

Companies such as Clearvision are leaders in this field and can demonstrate the benefits to you, but before this you really need to have accepted the increased cost, as it can be substantial.

A simpler and often very effective method is to use halogen up-lighters, carefully placed around the office in order to improve the overall lighting effect.

Large amounts of light being bounced off the ceiling can dramatically alter the overall ambience of the office.

Additionally, simple desk lamps can be added to each workstation to give employees a degree of control over the light level on their desk.
For many this simple addition reduces eyestrain and fatigue to such a level that performance is improved substantially.

Approached correctly, improving your office lighting can be an extremely cost effective way of improving staff efficiency.