What to Consider When Selecting Lighting for Road Work Zones

Effective safety lighting is one of the most important components for successfully establishing and working in a road construction zone. From indicating where this region begins and ends to simply helping workers see what they’re doing, it’s only through proper illumination that safety can be optimized. Even so, it can be difficult to determine which lights will be most useful in certain circumstances, and every situation is going to be a bit different. This is what to consider when selecting lighting for road work zones and why these factors are important.

The Jobs Being Performed

Visibility is always going to be a key contributor to a team’s ability to get their work done. As such, when it comes to choosing the right type and scale of lighting for a construction project, it’s crucial that you first consider what you’ll be doing. For more focused tasks, it may only be necessary to use smaller lamps and equipment-mounted lighting units in specific locations. But for larger work being done on the road, you might need to acquire floodlights to cover the entire job site.

The Size of the Work Zone Being Illuminated

It’s also important that you think about the overall size of the work zone you’re trying to light up. This will allow you to figure out how many lights you’re going to need and where they can be placed to maximize coverage. Naturally, light plant towers are going to provide more saturation than equipment lights. However, when spaced out adequately, machine headlights can actually provide a wider range of dimmer light. It all has to do with the amount of saturation you’re going to need for specific areas.

The Potential for Glare

Another thing to consider when selecting lighting for road work zones is the potential for them to produce glare for your workers as well as passing drivers. Glare can be incredibly dangerous as it temporarily blocks a person’s view and leaves them vulnerable to accidents. As such, you’ll want to keep from oversaturating the work zone with light and refrain from directing light sources towards the flow of traffic—especially at night. The more light you’re producing, the higher risk there is of creating glare when it reflects off of windshields, equipment, and even your work zone signage.

The Heaviness of Traffic

How heavy traffic is on that road will also contribute to the types of work zone lights you’re going to need. In busier areas, it’s crucial that flaggers are thoroughly lit up with LED signs, traffic batons, and even vests—just to ensure that drivers know they’re there. It may also be useful to fit your barricades with construction barricade lights to further emphasize where the work zone begins and ends. Arrow boards are also a wonderful way to indicate traffic instructions in instances of low visibility.