Workplace Ordinance: Regulations for Workplace Lighting (ASR A3.4)

Do your employees have sufficient and suitable light at their workstations? In Germany, what is meant by “sufficient and suitable” is defined by the “Workplace Ordinance” and the “Technical Rules for Workplaces ASR A3.4 Lighting and visual communication” in Germany. Companies that do not meet these requirements run the risk of severe consequences such as fines and even shutdowns.

Which regulations do you need to know and apply? This article provides you with an overview of the most important requirements of the Workplace Ordinance when it comes to workplace lighting.

The entire set of regulations is available to download here, on the website of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (only available in German).

Guide: Illuminating indoor commercial workplaces

Our guide explains in detail how to adapt your indoor lighting to the legal requirements and standards – with easy understanding and practical implementation

Lighting using daylight

Daylight tends to have a positive effect on the health and well-being of employees. Workplaces should therefore be given sufficient daylight.

Daylight provision

Daylight can enter the building through windows, skylights and translucent components. The requirement for sufficient daylight is met if, in working rooms,

• a daylight factor greater than 2% is reached at the workstation,
• greater than 4% is achieved with skylights or
• a minimum ratio of translucent surface, e.g. window, door or wall surface to floor area of 1:10 is maintained.

[i] The daylight factor is the ratio of the illuminance indoors to the illuminance outdoors without any structures under an overcast sky.

It is preferred that workstations are set up close to windows.

Visual communication

People also feel more comfortable indoors if they are able to see outside. For this reason, workstations, as well as meeting and break rooms, are required to have “visual communications”: clear, distortion-free glazing through which the environment can be seen. Translucent surfaces such as structured glass or skylights are not suitable for this purpose.

Daylight glare

Disturbing glare caused by sunlight should be avoided or kept to a minimum. The following measures are just some examples of how to limit disturbing glare or reflections from daylight:

• Venetian blinds, roller blinds and vertical blinds on windows
• For skylights, light-diffusing materials or glazing with integrated vane louvres
• External awnings (which also provide the most effective protection against excessive room heating caused by sunlight)

Exceptions

For structural or operational reasons, it is sometimes not possible to implement the requirements regarding daylight provision and visual communications. In these cases, suitable compensatory measures must be taken. These could include limiting working hours at windowless workstations or ensuring regular breaks outside or in rooms with daylight.

Artificial lighting for indoor workstations

Given that based on location and time, a sufficient amount of daylight is not always available, workstations need to be equipped with appropriate artificial lighting. Employees are only able to perform their visual tasks safely and without excessive strain over a longer period of time if sufficient light is present. Good lighting also helps to promote employee activity and well-being.

Illuminance and uniformity

Illuminance at the workstation

When operating a workplace, compliance with the minimum illuminances in lux (lx) specified in Annex 3 are required to ensure safety and health protection. Depending on the task and the needs of the employees, higher illuminances may be appropriate.

[i] The unit “lux” describes how much light, or more precisely – how much luminous flux – hits a surface.

Examples of minimum illuminances include:

• Shipping and packaging areas in warehouses: 200 lx
• Machining of lightweight sheet metal: 300 lx
• Standard office workstations: 500 lx
• Production of metal tools and cutlery: 750 lx
• Final and surface inspections in automotive engineering: 1000 lx
• Colour control for multi-colour printing: 1500 lx

For workstations, working rooms and activities not listed in Annex 3, the required values must be determined as part of a risk assessment.

With regard to demanding visual tasks requiring illuminances greater than 500 lx, the minimum value only applies to the relevant parts of the workstation: it is then enough, for example, if the surface of the table or desk is directly and brightly lit using a workplace light.

Uniformity

Minimum requirements for the uniformity of lighting are also defined: the entire workstation must be sufficiently lit. Any differences in brightness must not be too great in order to prevent unnecessary strain on the eyes.

A minimum of 0.6 times the average illuminance must be achieved in all areas of a workstation, or 0.7 times for precision work on partial surfaces. The lowest value must not be within in the range of the main visual task.

Illuminance in the vicinity of the workstation

In addition, no excessive differences in brightness between the workstation and the surrounding area are permitted. If an average illuminance of at least 300 lx is stipulated for a particular workstation, the illuminance of the surrounding area must be at least 200 lx. For workstations needing to be lit with 500 lx or more, the surrounding area must have an illuminance of 300 lx.

Workstation- and room-related lighting

You can light up areas using room-related lighting (e.g. ceiling lighting) as well as targeted workstation lighting (e.g. a desk lamp). Room-related lighting is ideal in cases where the arrangement and type of workstations are not known or need to be flexible. In this case, however, precautions should be taken to enable that workstations are illuminated in accordance with the standards, for example with mobile lighting systems.

Limiting glare and other disruptive effects

Minimise disruptive glare or reflections; these have a detrimental effect on visual performance, lead to fatigue and can cause accidents.

Suitable measures for avoiding and limiting glare include:

• Using shielded luminaires
• Using less bright or less directional luminaires
• Arranging luminaires outside the main field of vision
• Brightening up the surroundings (bright walls and ceilings, ambient lighting)
• Avoiding reflections through matt surfaces and anti-reflective screens.

Flickering, pulsating light and disturbing shadows should also be avoided. However, a certain amount of shadowing is useful for some specific tasks as it supports spatial perception.

Sufficient colour rendering

Good colour rendering is important for the safety, visual performance, comfort and well-being of employees, as it enables a natural and true-to-life perception of colours. This is particularly relevant for workstations requiring correct recognition of colours.

As a rule, luminaires with a colour rendering index of at least 80 must be used for workstations, or 90 for demanding visual tasks. In areas such as warehouses or shipping, 40 to 60 is sometimes sufficient. The requirements for the individual areas and activities are listed in Annexes 3 and 4 of ASR A3.4.

[i] The colour rendering index Ra is a non-dimensional value. It ranges from 0 to 100 (100 = optimum colour rendering).

For safety signs and colours

When choosing lamps and luminaires, make sure that safety signs and safety colours are recognisable as such and that the signalling effect of self-luminous safety signs is not impaired. For lamps with a colour rendering index Ra < 40, additional measures such as backlighting or floodlighting are required to ensure that safety colours remain recognisable.

Artificial lighting outdoors

Outdoor workstations also require adequate lighting to ensure the health and safety of employees. In general, the requirements for outdoor lighting are the same as those for indoor lighting; however, the minimum values and limits are adapted to the specific conditions.

Illuminances and uniformity

The minimum illuminances for outdoor workstations are specified in Annex 4 of ASR A3.4. They are based on the type of workstation and the visual task.

Examples include:

• Storage areas for general cargo: 30 lx
• Loading and unloading areas in chemical plants: 50 lx
• Fuelling stations: 100 lx
• Repair work on motors and electrical equipment: 200 lx

As is the case indoors, the illuminance must not be less than 0.6 times the average illuminance at any point of the workstation outdoors in order to ensure uniform illumination.

Limiting glare

Glare from artificial lighting must also be limited in outdoor workstations. Suitable measures that can be taken are the same as those for indoor areas.

Particular care must be taken to ensure that the lighting of traffic routes and work areas does not dazzle drivers. Appropriate anti-glare luminaires must be used here.

Colour rendering

A colour rendering index of Ra <= 25 is sufficient for most outdoor workstations. Higher values of Ra <= 60 or more are only required if colours need to be recognised correctly, for example, for inspection tasks.

Implementing the lighting requirements

The following steps need to be taken in order to implement the lighting requirements set out by the Workplace Ordinance in practice:

Survey and risk assessment

The first thing to do is to analyse the current lighting situation at the workstations. This includes answering the following questions:

• Do the illuminances comply with the minimum values according to ASR A3.4?
• Is the lighting sufficiently uniform and glare-free?
• Are colours rendered naturally?
• Have employees made any complaints about the lighting?

Carry out indicative illuminance measurements to obtain objective data. Ask employees about their own subjective impressions. Evaluate existing risk assessments.

Measures in the event of non-compliance with the minimum values

If the illuminance falls below the required minimum values, remedy the situation by taking the following short-term measures:

• Clean or replace dirty or aged luminaires and lamps.
• Increase the number of luminaires or use more powerful ones. Optimise their positions.
• Use glare-free luminaires for better results. Remove or cover highly reflective surfaces.
• Use bright colours for walls and ceilings to improve the brightness of the room.
• Complement the general lighting with workplace lights.

Maintenance and inspection of lighting systems

Lighting systems require regular maintenance and cleaning to ensure the required lighting quality long term. Draw up a maintenance plan that includes the following points:

• Regular cleaning of the luminaires and replacement of aged lamps
• Orienting measurements of illuminance at fixed intervals
• Immediate rectification of defects such as defective luminaires or heavy soiling
• Adaptation of lighting in the event of changes to working conditions or room usage

Consequences of breaches of the Workplace Ordinance

Breaches of the lighting regulations in the Workplace Ordinance can have serious consequences. Inspections by supervisory authorities can result in orders to rectify defects and fines, and in serious cases even shutdowns. Fines also often entail high follow-up costs for retrofitting or production downtimes.

Inadequate lighting has been proven to increase the risk of accidents, meaning that employers are liable in the event of accidents. This can lead to compensation claims, higher insurance premiums and damage to the company’s image.

Even if there are no accidents, poor lighting has a negative impact on performance, productivity and quality. Complying with lighting standards is therefore in the best interests of every company – from a legal and economic standpoint alike.

Guide: Illuminating indoor commercial workplaces

Our guide explains in detail how to adapt your indoor lighting to the legal requirements and standards – with easy understanding and practical implementation