MN OSHA recommendations
MN OSHA recommendations
The acceptable levels, according to Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Occupational Safety and Health Standards 5205.120 Minimum Levels of Illumination are as follows:
Subpart 1. For traversed spaces. Illumination by daylight or artificial light shall be supplied for traversed spaces, such as hallways, roadways, etc., during working hours, and for work when attended by operators. Minimum levels of illumination, as listed in the following table, are required in all places of employment in Minnesota. Values greater than these minima shall be used when ordered by the Occupational Safety and Health Division.
Illumination on Traversed Spaces Recommended Minimum Foot-candles
Roadways, yard thoroughfares =2 - 1
Storage spaces, aisles and passageways in workrooms, excepting exits and passageways leading thereto =3 - 2
Spaces such as stairways, hallways, exits and passages leading thereto =5 - 3
Spaces such as locker rooms, wash rooms, toilet rooms, and passageways where there are exposed moving machines, hot pipes, or live electrical parts = 6 - 4
Illumination At The Working Place Recommended Minimum Foot-candles
Where discrimination of detail is not essential: Work such as handling material of a coarse nature, grinding clay products, rough sorting, coal and ash handling, foundry charging = 5 - 3
Where slight discrimination of detail is essential: Work such as rough machining, rough assembling, rough bench work, rough forging, grain milling = 10 - 5
Where moderate discrimination of detail is essential: Work such as machining, assembly work, bench work, fine core making in foundries = 30
Where close discrimination of detail is essential: Work such as fine lathe work, pattern making, tool making, weaving or sewing light-colored silk or woolen textiles, office work, accounting, typewriting =50
Work such as drafting, weaving or sewing dark colored material, very fine inspection or inspection of very dark goods = 100 - 125
The preceding table gives the range of minimum illumination values that are considered desirable for different classes of work. These values are based upon practice established through years of experience. Elderly persons or persons with defective eyesight require more light than do those having perfect vision. A range of foot-candle values is given for each group of operations. In modern practice it will usually be found desirable to select values in or even beyond the upper portion of the range.
It is recognized that any specific process when carried on in different factories is performed with different degrees of fineness and with other variations, so that one factory may need more illumination than another for the same class of work.