Lighting lessons for your computer area

Set up your workspace with the proper amount of light to avoid eyestrain

By Laura Pratt

So you’re sitting at your computer working through another headache. Don’t be too quick to assume it’s the task at hand that’s giving you the pain; it could be the way you’re lighting it.

Many things about working on a computer are visually demanding. There’s the frequent eye motion, the continuous eye focusing and the need to constantly realign your field of vision. These strains explain why some statistics suggest that as many as 90 per cent of computer users experience symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).

CVS can be defined as a set of eye and vision difficulties linked to work-related use of the computer. Symptoms includes eye strain, headaches, dry and irritated eyes, blurred vision, and neck and back pain.

But setting your workspace up with the proper amount of light — minus the glare — can reduce the likelihood that you and CVS will ever make each other’s acquaintance.

Be good to your eyes

“When we look at the computer, we simply do not blink enough,” says Suzanne McLaughlin, president of Orientations Nova, an Amos, Que., a company that sells full spectrum lights online. “That makes our eyes dry out, and can lead to symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome.”

According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, “‘Good’ lighting means providing enough illumination so that people can see printed, handwritten or displayed documents clearly, but are not blinded by excessively high light levels.”

Balance brightness

But the whole enterprise gets tricky when you’re talking about simultaneously lighting the documents on your desk as well as the computer. You want a room with general brightness that is not too far off the brightness of the computer monitor itself.

“What you’re trying to avoid is sharp contrast,” says Susan Yearwood, an Ottawa-based occupational therapist and professional. “General lighting should be on par with the level of brightness coming off your screen.”

In a typical office, there are potentially four sources of light: natural light, overhead lighting, task lighting and the light coming off the monitor.

Go natural

Natural light can be either a blessing or a curse: there’s no better light for our eyes, but it can glare back at you as a reflection from the computer screen.

Ideally, your office window should be neither behind your back nor behind your computer. If this positioning can’t be helped, make sure you’ve got some serious window blinds.

Anti-glare screens are okay, says Yearwood. However, flat-screen monitors already have anti-glare properties.

A good way to check for glare is to turn off your monitor and sit in front of the black screen. That way, you’ll distinctly see any flashes of light coming back at you. You should also dust your screen regularly. Watch out for stark-white office blotters and desk surfaces: they also reflect bright light.

Review your light from above

Overhead lighting should never be placed right above or behind the screen because the light can bounce into your eyes. McLaughlin says one of the worst offenders for the eyes is the standard incandescent bulbs that people use all over their homes and offices.

Another offender is the standard fluorescent tubes used in stores, offices and public buildings. She suggests replacing both of these bulbs with full spectrum compact fluorescents (for lamps and overhead fixtures) or full spectrum fluorescent tubes which promote better vision and save energy.

Focus on task lighting

If your overhead lighting isn’t sufficient, supplement it with a task light. Task lights are desk or floor lamps designed to complement an overhead light’s illumination of a workspace. Since a monitor is bright enough, you should pick a desk lamp that can be used to illuminate documents while avoiding excessive light near the monitor.

Tracey Kelly, commercial manager for IKEA, suggests “asymmetrical” lighting, which throws a triangular pool of light as opposed to a circle. “This way you can adjust it so you have a stronger light on your keyboard than on your screen.”

And while you’re at it, don’t stick your desk lamp on the right-hand side of your desk if you’re right handed — you’ll cast your own shadow.