Why Invest in Professional-Grade Handheld Task Lighting?

May 28, 2024

Today, there’s a resurgence in task lighting, focusing on illuminating work areas with energy-efficient LED technology. Handheld work lights are now popular, especially for outdoor workers like construction crews, emergency responders, firefighters, and police on duty, where adequate lighting is crucial.

The Importance of Vision in the Workplace 

Poor lighting can result in accidents, eyestrain, fatigue, headaches, and stress for workers. The International Labour Organization (ILO), which helps set workplace policies and standards globally, found that improving lighting in the garment industry reduced errors by 30 percent and led to a 10 percent increase in productivity. A decrease in human-caused mistakes and greater production output are enough for any company to pay proper attention to lighting in the workplace. Other research has also shown how lighting affects productivity, with eyestrain due to poor lighting being a frequent complaint among employees.

Insufficient workplace lighting poses risks and hampers productivity, hindering profit-seeking businesses. Balancing luminosity is crucial, as excessive glare can trigger headaches and stress. Harsh or dim lighting in workspaces can result in headaches, fatigue, and reduced efficiency. Proper lighting not only enhances the visibility of machinery and workplace hazards to prevent accidents but also minimizes the risk of temporary blindness caused by sudden changes in lighting. Thus, optimal lighting is key to ensuring quality work and high productivity levels in the workplace.

Traditional lighting methods are often bulky, costly, and ineffective, hence the shift towards LED lighting in many workplaces. Handheld work lights using LED technology offer exceptional efficiency, reliability, and versatility compared to conventional options.

Overhead & Task Lighting

The optimal workplace lighting system combines overhead and task lighting, with LED handheld work lights emerging as a top-tier solution. This dual approach ensures consistent illumination across the workspace, reducing abrupt light transitions and minimizing glare in areas requiring focused attention. While fluorescent overhead lighting was once favored for cost efficiency, LED work lights are now supplanting traditional systems.

When workstations and other key areas are illuminated by LED lighting, less overhead lighting is needed in work environments. Portable LED work lights offer even greater flexibility, consuming less energy than fluorescent and incandescent alternatives. With LED bulbs boasting a longer lifespan, their widespread use is a practical choice. These handheld lights suit office settings, outdoor environments, and any mobile workspaces that demand versatility.

Benefits of Using LED Handheld Work Lighting

The best lighting system for workers controls the luminosity in their immediate work area, which normally means going with LED. Handheld work lighting allows users to better control the brightness at their workstation. Using a customized lighting solution involving LED, handheld work lights can even be made to fit into adjustable arms. This allows workers to better position and control the lighting level in their workspace by altering the angle at which light shines on a task.  

Additionally, lighting often changes throughout the day as the sun changes position. The ability to adjust brightness levels also helps reduce employee eyestrain. 

Specific benefits that come from utilizing LED handheld work lights include: 

  • Durability: While fluorescent and incandescent lightbulbs are contained within glass casings, LED handheld work lights utilize more rugged engineered polymers that withstand impact much better.
  • Energy efficiency: Compared to incandescent lightbulbs that require 75 watts of energy to produce 1000 to 1400 lumens, efficiency is far better with fluorescent or LED lighting. Handheld work lights using fluorescent bulbs would require 18 to 22 watts for that brightness level, while LED bulbs would require only about 12 to 13 watts.
  • Environmentally-friendly: While compact fluorescent lightbulbs contain mercury and many incandescent ones contain lead, both of which are hazardous to humans, LED handheld work lights don’t contain such harmful toxins.
  • Longer lifespan: When it comes to the difference in older lighting technology lightbulb lifespans, LED handheld work lights will last far longer. 
  • Low heat: Most of the energy used by incandescent lightbulbs is transformed into heat, as indicated in many studies comparing lighting technologies. The heat generated by luminescent bulbs is a prime reason they last considerably less time than either fluorescent or LED lights.
  • Portability:  LED lights are compact and better for applications requiring greater mobility.  
  • Reliability: LED handheld work lights offer greater reliability when lighting a space with less chance of flickering from vibration than other lighting options.
  • Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation: While halogen lights emit significant amounts of UV radiation, incandescent bulbs do too, though to a lesser extent. Even fluorescent lightbulbs emit varying amounts of UV radiation, which is negligible for LED lights.

LED handheld work lights provide steady illumination without any flickering upon activation. This feature of LED technology proves crucial in time-sensitive emergencies and situations requiring instant lighting. Hence, portable LED lighting emerges as an optimal choice for diverse applications.

Applications for LED Handheld Work Lighting 

LED handheld work lights are versatile for illuminating areas without a power source and are suitable for various applications. They prove invaluable in industrial settings and outdoor scenarios, such as night search and rescue missions, nocturnal road construction projects, and various industries like construction that demand lighting in remote locations. Portable LED work lights offer superior flexibility compared to incandescent or fluorescent options.

Led handheld work lighting can be used for:   

  • Bridge work
  • Construction sites at night or when visibility is low
  • Disaster relief management
  • Emergency repairs
  • Firefighting
  • Handling nighttime accidents
  • Industrial maintenance activities
  • Municipal services
  • Search and rescue operations
  • Work in tunnels

The versatility of portable LED work lights makes them useful for innumerable other applications.

LED Handheld Work Light Solutions for Any Application 

Alert Reels Manufacturing carries numerous professional-grade LED work lights, including cordless handheld models. Our company has the expertise to make custom LED handheld lights and lighting systems for any application. With a team skilled in engineering and assembling operations, we can develop and deliver a custom product that suits your needs.

To learn more about our capabilities, contact the LED lighting experts at Alert Reel today.