Office light: window distance and lighting conditions influencing occupational health

Office lighting is one of the indoor environmental aspects which is proven to influence occupational health (OH). The quantity of light entering the eyes of office workers depends on the design of the building. This paper describes two field studies in which the relationship between window distance and lighting conditions was investigated. For one study, the relationship between lighting conditions and subjective alertness was explored as well. Questionnaires were distributed to determine OH. Significant correlations (p<.05) were found between illuminances and window distance and between correlated colour temperatures and window distance. Furthermore, for one out of the total ten participants, a significant strong correlation was found between the vertical illuminance levels and subjective alertness. This can mean that this OH aspect might be controlled by controlling the window distance in an office landscape. On the other hand, it can mean that there are too many uncertainties in field studies to investigate this relationship accurately.