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The Best Parking Lot Lighting Configuration for a Safe Workplace

The Best Parking Lot Lighting Configuration for a Safe Workplace

If you own a business, one of your first priorities is the safety of your employees. When they struggle to find a safe place to park, they'll dread coming to work and may even look for another job where they can feel more secure.

Improving your parking lot lighting can go a long way for decreasing the crime near your building and helping retain your employees. Point out how you're changing the lot for their safety, and check in with them so they can voice any additional concerns.

Here's the best way to set up your parking lot or garage to keep employees secure.

Light for Security Cameras

Parking lots offer plenty of dark corners for criminals to hide. That's why over 10% of crimes happen in parking lots or garages.

Typical high-pressure sodium lamps give a yellowish light that makes it difficult to see, which is attractive for bad guys. You can increase parking lot safety by installing security cameras, but they can only see so much with low lighting. With more even lighting, your security cameras perform better.

With better lighting for your cameras, hopefully you won't have to resort to your disaster recovery plan.

Parking Lot Lighting: Which Type?

One way to deter criminals is to upgrade to metal halide bulbs or LEDs. They look brighter to the human eye because they use a different color spectrum than sodium lamps. Though it may be subconscious, seeing a more vivid lamp may give a criminal pause about the crime they are about to commit.

Another tip is to replace lamps all at once. If you wait until a lamp burns out, then chances are it has deteriorated over time, up to 40%. That means it got dimmer and the colors got gloomier, opening up opportunities for crime.

If you replace all the lamps at the same time, there won't be an opportunity at a darker corner of the garage because they'll all be bright. You may even be eligible for a rebate.

Analyze Your Lighting Plan

Putting brighter lights in won't always reduce the risk as much as you'd like. It's better to have a detailed safety plan for your parking structure, from the placement of lights to emergency stations. Unnecessary lighting can cost you more money, so placing them advantageously means safety and cost-efficiency.

Because many parking garages are dark even in the day time, you need to plan to light them for many hours of the day. Using lights near vertical columns or walls can help distribute the light rays, creating less of a contrast between them and the dark corners. That means your eyes adjust faster when looking between the light and dark spaces, and it's easier to see if something isn't right.

Prioritizing Safety

Changing the parking lot lighting for your business can improve your employee morale as well as decreasing crime statistics. With different bulbs, a new layout, and more effective security cameras, you'll offer confidence for your workers and your customers.

Better lighting means it's safer for pedestrians, too. Drivers can see and avoid them easier than with low lighting.

For more help with safety in the workplace, order safety supplies from The Safety Source LLC.

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