Definition - What does Preventing Glare mean?

Preventing glare in the workplace environment, within the context of workplace health and safety, involves activities designed to limit the impact of glare on a worker's vision. Glare is a bright light that overpowers vision and can cause discomfort, eye strain, or even temporary flash blindness.

SureHire explains Preventing Glare

Preventing glare in the workplace requires an evaluation of the individual employee's workspace and all sources of excessive, or high contrast light, that might affect that employee's vision. Both direct light and reflected light sources should be considered when making an evaluation.

Human eyes are particularly sensitive to peripheral light, so the entire workspace must be considered when determining whether there is a potential for glare. To prevent glare, the workplace may need to be redesigned or structural elements repositioned to avoid the problematic light source. Sometimes the light source itself can be removed or modified to reduce glare. Diffusion of the light source through the use of curtains on windows or an anti-glare screen filter for computer monitors can also help prevent glare. Also, some glare problems may be temporary and require adaptable solutions, as when a glare results from the sun entering a window at a specific time of day.

Failure to prevent glare can result in a drop in worker productivity, task error increases, and damage to employee vision.

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