The Fatal Four and 4 Reasons Warehouses and manufacturing need High-bay LED lights
Gary Morrissey
C-Level Executive | B2B B2C Strategic Sales & Operations Leader | Sustainability Advocate -
In January 2018, Demand Lighting completed 3 large industrial lighting projects, each over 500k sqft. To make the manufacturing units and warehouse high-bay lights last longer, you need to use LED lighting. When the high-bay light lasts longer, you will have to change it fewer times, and can avoid accidents as well as you may have to scramble up a 20-foot step ladder or ascend 50 feet on a scaffold.
According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the leading cause of work-related fatalities is “falls, slips and trips.” About 77% of fatal falls occur from heights of 11 feet or more.
Here are the leading causes of private sector worker deaths – called “The Fatal Four” from the OSHA:
1) Falls (36.7%)
2) Struck by Object (10.4%)
3) Electrocutions (9.3%)
4) Caught-in/between (2.3%)
While there is no data to show what role the replacement of burned-out luminaires plays in these statistics, fewer high-bay lighting maintenance requirements means fewer injuries and deaths. Besides the risk, replacing light fixtures at high ceiling altitudes is time consuming and expensive.
So, these are some of the compelling reasons to convert your high-bay lighting technology to LED lighting.
1) High-quality, high-bay LED luminaires last for about 100,000 hours. Even with 24/7 usage, which is about 10 maintenance-free years. On the other hand, HID lighting or fluorescent lighting may last only 1/6th of that time.
2) Enhancing Safety, reducing slip and falls. With LED lighting employees can see better under due to better color rendering. The higher the Color Rendering Index (CRI), the more accurate the colors and definition perceived by the eye.
3) High-bay LED luminaires are substantial energy savings lightings, which save at least 50% energy, giving out much higher quality of light. Hence LED lighting becomes a no-brainer for almost any commercial or industrial setting–especially for high-ceiling warehouses or manufacturing plants, as LED high-bays have a longer life than traditional light sources, and they minimize any maintenance-related costs.
4) Installing automated high-bay LED lighting controls, which can dim the lights, and turn them on and off as per your requirements like based on the time of the day, available daylight, occupancy and load shedding events. That way, you can save more energy usage, as much as 80%.
There are many LED high-bay products in the market like Demand Lighting UFO LED high-bays, that can be easily complemented with integrated controls and sensor options, like occupancy, photos and dimming. This further reduces energy costs and help extend the life of the fixture.