Article
Analysis of the Impact of Working Environment Factors on
Employee’s Health and Wellbeing; Workplace Lighting Design
Evaluation and Improvement
Ružena Králiková, Ervin Lumnitzer, Laura Džu ˇnová * and Anna Yehorova
Citation: Králiková, R.; Lumnitzer,
E.; Džuˇnová, L.; Yehorova, A.
Analysis of the Impact of Working
Environment Factors on Employee’s
Health and Wellbeing; Workplace
Lighting Design Evaluation and
Improvement. Sustainability 2021, 13,
8816. https://doi.org/10.3390/
su13168816
Academic Editor: João Carlos de
Oliveira Matias
Received: 5 July 2021
Accepted: 5 August 2021
Published: 6 August 2021
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4.0/).
Department of Process and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Kosice, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia;
ruzena.kralikova@tuke.sk (R.K.); ervin.lumnitzer@tuke.sk (E.L.); anna.yehorova@tuke.sk (A.Y.)
* Correspondence: laura.dzunova@tuke.sk
Abstract:
In modern society, humans spend most of their time in the indoor environment (home,
work, school...). This indoor lifestyle constantly poses challenges to our physical and mental health
by affecting our hormone levels and circadian rhythm. This article deals with the possible connec-
tion between human and working environment factors and the emergence of health problems in
connection with work. Using statistical methods, the dependence between the six characteristics
(age, length of employment, visual demand of the work task, satisfaction with lighting conditions,
and shift work) and occurrence of health-related problems and discomfort (i.e., eye discomfort,
headache, eye fatigue, and seasonal affective disorder symptoms) was examined. The paper also
deals with the evaluation of lighting conditions in the workshop using the lighting design software
DIALux evo 9.2. Using this software, two lighting variants were modeled. The first simulated variant
included lighting parameters according to the currently used luminaries and the second variant
contained more efficient LED luminaries.
Keywords: working environment factors; health and safety; workplace lighting; visual comfort
1. Introduction
From evolution, human organisms were adapted to the natural alternation of light and
darkness, by the internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle called the circadian
rhythm. However, in the last millennium with the appearance of an artificial light source
and its development, the human lifestyle began to change and that led to disturbance of
this circadian cycle. Humans started to lengthen their day and shortened their night. It was
only a matter of time for people to address the potential negative impact of these changes
associated with the use and development of artificial lighting and its interventions with
the human body’s natural biorhythm [1,2].
Optimized lighting has a lot of positive features that are beneficial for increasing
comfort and safety in the indoor environment. Additionally, the beneficial effects of
good lighting extend much further than it was originally thought. In fact, over the last
two decades, medical science has consistently shown that natural daylight has a positive
influence on human health and well-being. Daylight regulates human physiology, behavior,
and the sleep–wake cycle, by directly stimulating the internal timing mechanisms of the
brain. Since humans spend most of their time in the indoor environment, the lighting in
the interiors should be designed to contain as much daylight as possible, combined with
added artificial lighting that can be adapted to the human needs in the absence of daylight
to ensure best visibility and suitability. The modern lifestyle is characterized by a mismatch
between circadian and societal (e.g., shift work, school) clocks, a condition known as social
jet lag, which can have severe impacts on human health and well-being [3,4].
The modern lifestyle and social jet lag can disturb circadian clock systems and prevent
correct entrainment to periodically changing environmental conditions, most importantly
Sustainability 2021, 13, 8816. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168816 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
