Proper Environmental Testing for Workplaces
The publication of the AS 1680.1€"1990 prepared by the Standards Australia Committee on Interior Lighting has made it necessary to subject your workplace to a complete environmental testing. The Standard lays out the basic requirements for lighting and even the interior palette of your office. These recommendations are not only to make your life difficult but rather help in improving efficiency in the workplace.
Cause of trouble
The Standards are backed by years of studies which showed that poor distribution of light in the workplace coupled with the wrong finishes on the walls and furniture can cause reflections and glares. Too much illumination mixed with white walls can cause headaches and eye fatigue on the part of the employees. According to studies, employees hardly complain about low illumination. Typically, people can read in illumination between 50 lux and 1,000 lux but the eyes can adjust even as low as 15 lux. Not to say that you take out one or two fluorescent lights from your building, but rather ask a professional to conduct tests on your office, including emergency light testing to make sure everything is in proper order.
Indoor air
The standard ventilation of your workplace is quite technical. The requirements can either be for natural, mechanical or a combination of both. Natural ventilation refers to the process when there's no need to filter or treat the air coming from outside as opposed to mechanical where there's a need to treat the air. Examples of mechanical ventilation are industrial or manufacturing plants to remove dust or toxic air, controlled-environments like intensive care units in hospitals or research plants, when excessive pollution is present, enclosed areas like car parks where the air becomes stuffy and even dangerous. Environmental testing also accounts for humidity in the air. The standard amount of water vapour in the air is about 40-60%. You can always know that there's low humidity when you experience static electricity shocks.
Microwave testing
The professionals also check for microwave radiation according to the manufacturing standard AS/NZS3350. Microwave radiation leakage testers that are sold off the shelf may not meet the required accuracy set for by the regulations. The danger here is radiation is invisible and employees may feel slight disorientation, headaches or vomiting. This could also have lingering effects on health if they are exposed over a sustained period. Microwave testing is necessary to make sure radiations do not exceed 50W/m2.
Cause of trouble
The Standards are backed by years of studies which showed that poor distribution of light in the workplace coupled with the wrong finishes on the walls and furniture can cause reflections and glares. Too much illumination mixed with white walls can cause headaches and eye fatigue on the part of the employees. According to studies, employees hardly complain about low illumination. Typically, people can read in illumination between 50 lux and 1,000 lux but the eyes can adjust even as low as 15 lux. Not to say that you take out one or two fluorescent lights from your building, but rather ask a professional to conduct tests on your office, including emergency light testing to make sure everything is in proper order.
Indoor air
The standard ventilation of your workplace is quite technical. The requirements can either be for natural, mechanical or a combination of both. Natural ventilation refers to the process when there's no need to filter or treat the air coming from outside as opposed to mechanical where there's a need to treat the air. Examples of mechanical ventilation are industrial or manufacturing plants to remove dust or toxic air, controlled-environments like intensive care units in hospitals or research plants, when excessive pollution is present, enclosed areas like car parks where the air becomes stuffy and even dangerous. Environmental testing also accounts for humidity in the air. The standard amount of water vapour in the air is about 40-60%. You can always know that there's low humidity when you experience static electricity shocks.
Microwave testing
The professionals also check for microwave radiation according to the manufacturing standard AS/NZS3350. Microwave radiation leakage testers that are sold off the shelf may not meet the required accuracy set for by the regulations. The danger here is radiation is invisible and employees may feel slight disorientation, headaches or vomiting. This could also have lingering effects on health if they are exposed over a sustained period. Microwave testing is necessary to make sure radiations do not exceed 50W/m2.
