working condition sewing floor
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PLEA2012 - 28th Conference, Opportunities, Limits & Needs Towards an environmentally responsible architecture Lima, Perú 7-9 November 2012
Illumination Condition and Work Efficiency in the Tropics Study on production spaces of Ready-made garments factories in Dhaka
MD. MOHATAZ HOSSAIN1, PROF. DR. KHANDAKER SHABBIR AHMED
1
1Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
ABSTRACT: The Ready-made garment (RMG) sector of Bangladesh employs a large number of people who labour in the production spaces of garments factory buildings throughout the day. The economic viability of this sector largely dependson the performance of the workers. Demanding compliance standards of buyers from various countries and a challenging
energy supply and demand scenario in the sector poses questions of sustainability and building design. Appropriate Illumination conditions of these production spaces, quality as well as quantity of lighting suitable for the production
processes, is a major requirement of a proper working environment. Industrial processes in such indoor environments are
becoming highly complex; workers working under poor lighting conditions are usually exposed to a range of visual problems with operating machines, textile sewing activities, ironing and other activities. Visual comfort for various
illumination levels has impact on total physical comfort condition and any physical discomfort influences the humanbehaviour and their work efficiency. The paper focuses on causality to identify the effects of the illumination condition of
production spaces on the work efficiency and to recommend illumination ranges that would facilitate optimum workefficiency. Keywords: Illumination condition, Work efficiency, Production space, Visual comfort, Ready-made garments.
INTRODUCTION
The readymade garment ( RMG) sector is a fully export-
oriented industry [1] and Bangladesh is one of the largest
RMG exporters in the world. It plays a pivotal role in the
economy of Bangladesh by accounting for approximately
76% of the total export earnings and nearly 10% of GDP[2]. Bangladesh, being a labour-abundant country, started
the process of industrialisation in the sector by
concentrating on labour-intensive products such as
clothing [3]. Hence, the economy of this sector depends
on the production by the workers. However, the
readymade garments have been heavily criticized during
1970 - 2000 for the poor working conditions particularly
in the production spaces. The poor luminous
environment in production spaces was one of the
concerns affecting the workers. Among the
environmental compliance factors Illumination condition
remain an important which must be ensured by the
factory owners. Illumination condition includes the
quality as well as quantity of the lighting. However, in
the production space (Sewing, Cutting, dyeing and
finishing), where illumination condition is very
important, the total luminous environment usually varies
with the type of lighting sources and location of the
sources. Poorly designed and maintained lighting can
result in glare and flicker that may cause vision
problems. When the lighting meets both quantity and
quality needs, it adds better working performance and
productivity [4]. Therefore, appropriate illumination
condition should be maintained not only for the visual
comfort but also for facilitating production targets..
The luminous environment acts through a chain of
mechanisms on human physiological and psychological
factors, which further influence human performance and productivity [5]. Many factors, such as skill, education
and previous experience can affect productivity.
However, lighting is one of the least expensive and the
most important influences on human performance in the
work environment [6]. Providing workers with sufficient
light to perform visual tasks improves their accuracy,
thus increasing production speed and reducing waste of
materials and time. Total production process in the
garments factory constitutes several discrete stages of
activities which are linked in a progressive manner
forming a chain of labour intensive production process.
Therefore it is necessary to maintain an excellent work
environment for maximizing productivity [7]. While
considering the typical working environment of a
garments worker, light sources and illumination level at
the horizontal work plane are notable issues for this
research. Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC)
and the local laws do not mention the means of achieving
recommended illumination levels. Since for compliance
needs, RMG factories in Bangladesh are increasingly
aiming to raise the lighting levels for various functional
needs like sewing, this is likely to increase energy
consumption substantially. Whereas, the general
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requirement of these workers may, in reality, be much
lower.
Figure 1: Eye trouble by occupation Category of workers(Source: Zohir and Paul-Majumder 2008)
The main health issues of the garments workers
include incidence of illness, reasons for taking leave,
occupational safety and health etc. [8] which are the
indicators of inappropriate illumination and related
conditions. Across job categories, sewing operators,
finishing helpers and quality controllers were found tosuffer most from the eye troubles (Figure 1). As the
workers under these categories do more critical jobs
which need adequate lighting environment, inappropriate
lighting condition may cause such vision problems and
eye pain [8]. Some factories use needle point lighting
(with small LED) for achieving the illumination level at
the work plane. But considering the brightness ratio at
the work environment, this solution conflicts with the
quality lighting environment and may cause visual
problems of the operator. It is therefore important to
derive optimum values needed for performance and
energy efficient.
OBJECTIVEThe objective of this research is: a) To document the
illumination condition and identify its effect on the work
efficiency in production spaces of RMG sector and b) To
investigate standard illumination levels and conditions
for maximum work efficiency of the RMG workers in the
production spaces of RMG buildings in context of
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
METHODOLOGY:
Physical surveys are conducted with detailedexperimental study of the selected RMG production
spaces on illumination conditions and the actual
performance of the workers from factories in Dhaka
region. Work efficiency is recorded through observing
the number of defects in production. According to
Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters
Association ( BGMEA) directory about 2000 member
factories are in Dhaka and its adjacent regions. About
100 factories were shortlisted randomly. After structuring
the initial questionnaire, a limited number of purpose
built factories from the shortlist have been earmarked
randomly on the basis of some selection criteria guided
by BGMEA in Dhaka region for the pilot survey as a
reconnaissance survey in order to explore the space-
geometry and typologies of the production spaces of
garments factories in this region. Three typical example
production units of three different factories were then
selected for detailed investigation of the respectiveluminous environment and worker performance
evaluation, representing three different shapes of the
production space which were found including different
ceiling heights and types, depth of production unit,
window height, lighting layout and other relevant
features identified in the pilot survey. The RMG Factory
buildings of the production unit one, two and three are
nine, two and six storied respectively. Among them
detailed structured surveys were conducted at different
levels of the factory building (Table 1) to investigate the
existing illumination conditions of the production spaces.
Table 1: Details of three selected RMG factoriesName of the
RMGProduction
Space
Totallevels in
the
FactoryBuilding
Location ofthe
Initially
SurveyedProduction
Space(level)
Location of the‘Effecti
vewindow
s’*
AverageDepth ofActive
Area (m)
Floor Area(sqm)
CeilingHeight
(m)
Production
Unit 1 9 5 S-E,
S-W 45.1 2600 3.66
Production
Unit 2
2 1 E, W 41.5 4650 6.1~10
.7
Production
Unit 3
6 3 N, S 35.4 2250 3.81
*’Effective windows’ include the windows that are not fully blocked by any
obstructions (i.e. AC, Cooling pad, dark curtains etc.)
The sample size of this research was 60. According to
this research, sample of 60 workers was chosen fromeach of three production spaces for detail questionnaire
study as well as statistical analysis. Comparison between
the outcomes of the each production spaces was done in
order to crosscheck the outcome. The initial number of
variables of this total research was 19 of which 13 were
independent variables and 6 were dependent variables
(worker feedbacks and production defects in percentage).
But this paper only seeks the causal connection between
the dependent variable (production defects per hour, %)
and some other significant independent variable related
to illumination condition. However, the other
independent variables were observed in the total
population of the production spaces to assign them in a
constant group. Final selection of 60 sample workers was
done from these evaluation sheets or indexes. But all
personal data are input variable or constant. The rest of
the data were collected directly from the worker’s
working area through consultation, observation and
measured by Lux meter. Criteria of the samples were
determined by making same age group and work type
constant to limit the scope of work. Thus, the results on
workers evaluation gained through intensive field survey
applies to the sewing workers, both male and female,
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
I n c i d
e n c e o f e y e t r o u b l e s
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whose age group is around 18-25 years in common and
who have experiences from 1 month to over 2 years with
an average 9-10 working hours per day.
Figure 2: False coloured 3D visualization showing the lighting
layout of the production space 3 (Software: DIALux)
Figure 3: Illumination condition of selected production spaces
EXISTING ILLUMINATION CONDITION Illumination levels were measured at different positions
within the selected production spaces. One set of
measurement was taken with the artificial lights switched
on (Figure 3), before the lunch break, and another with
lights switched off during the lunch break to test the
daylight penetration and its contribution to the
illumination condition of the production spaces during
day. All data were measured at the height of horizontal
work plane at 2.5 feet (0.76 m) above floor level. The
surveyed production spaces were divided into grids with
reference to column or structural grid. Then the points
gained in the 2D plan of the production spaces were
selected for recording of the overall lighting levels as
well as lighting levels where only source is daylight. It is
observed that the illumination level in production space
type-3 is a bit higher than the other spaces (Table 2). The
main reason behind it can be the overall artificial lighting
layout (figure 2), higher window lintel height which was
observed only in this production space, location of the
windows, outdoor illumination level, depth of the
production space and any other features impacting the
luminous environment. But variation (uniformity ratio)
of the lighting levels also can be observed in this
production space.
Table 2: Illumination level measured at horizontal work planeProduction
spaceLocation or zone Average
Illuminationlevel
(Daylight),Lux
AverageIllumination
level(Daylight +
Artificial
Light ), Lux
ProductionUnit 1
Near the window (Party Daylight) 166 873
Centre of the half depth of space
(Mostly Artificial Lighting)
3 588
Furthest from the Window(Completely artificial Lighting)
0 532
ProductionUnit 2
Near the window (Party Daylight) 258 953
Centre of the half depth of space(Mostly Artificial Lighting)
9 672
Furthest from the Window(Completely artificial Lighting)
1 581
ProductionUnit 3
Near the window (Party Daylight) 287 1088Centre of the half depth of space
(Mostly Artificial Lighting)6 792
Furthest from the Window
(Completely artificial Lighting)
0 696
Table 3: Average Uniformity and Diversity of LuminanceProduction
Space 1
Production
Space 2
Production
Space 3
Uniformity of Luminance: (435/664)=0. 66 (420/735)=0.57 (390/805)=0.48
Diversity of Illuminance: (1150/435)= 2.5 :
1
(1050/420)=2.5
: 1
(1490/390)=3.5
: 1
Table 4: Measured illumination levels and standardsAverage illumination in survey Internatio
nal
Standards( IESNA)
Internatio
nal
Standards(IESCode)
Local
Standa
rds(BNBC2006)
Produc
tionspace1
Productio
n space 2
Productio
n space 3
MinimumIlluminatio
n level atwork plane
(lux)
435 420 390 300 600 300
MaximumIlluminatio
n level atwork plane
(lux)
1150 1050 1490 1000 900 1500
While considering only the daylight in the production
spaces and uniformity ratio, it can be easily observed that
the uniformity ratio of daylight is very low in all the
production spaces. Hence, supportive artificial lights are
installed in the indoor spaces. These three production
spaces used florescent tube lights. Uniformity of
luminance, Diversity of Illuminance and Spacing Height
Ratio were calculated based on recorded illuminances
and other records during the surveys in the production
spaces. The mounted lights were at 7 feet (2.13 m) from
floor level at all the selected spaces. The Table 3 reveals
a uniformity of luminance of 0.48 in production space-3,
which is considered low. The diversity of Illuminance at
the work planes was also found high in production space-
3. The workers of the production space-3 may face more
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glare or contrast problem than other production spaces.
The value of SHR is low in the production space-1 which
indicates good and glare-free artificial lighting
environment.
Table 4 gives comparison between ‘International
illumination standards' and ‘local recommendations' for
sewing or equivalent works which was then comparedwith the illumination measured in the surveyed
production spaces. The illumination level comparison
shows that in the surveyed cases the highest levels are
reached in the work planes, though international
standards require less lighting in the work plane areas.
The usually recommended uniformity of luminance
should not be less than 0.8. But none of the production
spaces met this standard. On the other hand, while
considering the diversity of Illuminance, all the results
were within the standard of 5:1.
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The two main variables were taken from same samples atthe same time and ‘correlation’ analysis with other
available evidence was done by Microsoft Excel Data
Analysis. Here, the independent variable is the
illumination level and dependent variable is the number
of defects per hour (%). While doing statistical data
analysis to observe correlation among the variables
(Distance between luminaire and work plane (ft), Product
Colour at work plane, Number of Errors per hr (%),
Illumination (at work plane), and Lighting Environment),
limited degree negative correlation were found between
Illumination at work plane, Lighting Environment,
Number of Errors per hr (%). Limited degree positive
correlations were also found between LightingEnvironment and Illumination level (at work plane).
Table 5 revealed that the number of defects per hours
(%) has limited degree negative correlation with
illumination level in all surveyed production spaces. The
correlation coefficients (r value) in production space 1, 2
and 3 are -0.6,-0.5 and -0.5 respectively. On the other
hand, the correlation coefficients number of defects per
hours (%) and Lighting environment or zone in
production space 1, 2 and 3 are -0.3,-0.4 and -0.5
respectively. When considering the correlation between
lighting environment and lighting level, the value of the
coefficients (0.5, 0.7 and 0.6 in the production space 1, 2
and 3 respectively) show that they have limited degree positive correlation which reveals that inclusion of
daylight can cause increasing of total illumination.
To understand the causal relationship between these
two variables (dependent: number of defects per hours
(%) and independent: illumination level) the Scatter pot
chart with regression line and Detail regression analysis
were used. Relationship between the two variables can
also be exhibited graphically by scatter diagram. Figure 4
illustrates the linear relationship between the independent
variable (illumination level) and dependent variable
(Percentage of production defects per hour) within two
Axis X and Y respectively. From the comparison
between these individual scatter pot charts of three
production spaces, it can be observed that the mode of
the line, the slope of the equations have the similarities
and the illumination levels have moderate effect on the
efficient production. The Regression analysis statisticscan be shown by Table 6 where the values of ‘R Square’
were identified. In production space-1, R square value
reveals that illumination level had about 36% (0.362 out
of 1) causal effect on the production defects (output
variable). Rest of the cause could be other environmental
variables and personal factors. In production space-2 and
3, R square values shows that illumination level had
about 25% (0.251 out of 1) and 20% (0.201 out of 1)
causal effect on the production defects (output variable).
Table 5 Correlation coefficients among illumination levels,lighting environment and production errors per hour
S u r v e y e d u n i t
Variables
Distancebetween
uminaire
and work
plane
Product
Colour
at work
plane
Number
of
Errors
per hr
Illumination
level (at work
plane)
Lighting
Environm
ent
P r o d u c t i o n u n i t 1
Distance between
Luminaire andwork plane 1.000 Product Colourat work plane 0.618 1.000 Number of
Errors per hr 0.314 0.270 1.000 Illuminationlevel (at work
plane) -0.025 -0.098 -0.611 1.000 Lighting Environment 0.265 0.074 -0.323 0.450 1.000
P r o
d u c t i o n u n i t 2
Distance between
Luminaire andwork plane 1.000 Product Colour
at work plane 0.116 1.000 Number of Errors per hr 0.145 -0.091 1.000 Illumination
level (at work plane) -0.070 0.038 -0.514 1.000 Lighting
Environment -0.149 -0.162 -0.441 0.680 1.000
P r o d u c t i o n u n i t 3
Distance between Luminaire andwork plane 1.000 Product Colour
at work plane 0.035 1.000 Number of Errors per hr -0.264 -0.049 1.000 Illumination
level (at work plane) 0.219 0.040 -0.463 1.000 Lighting
Environment 0.047 0.223 -0.476 0.591 1.000
From Regression of these two variable (independent
variable: Illumination level and dependent variable:
Production errors), coefficients (B value) were found as
well. It can be observed that increasing 1 unit of
illumination level, causes 0.009 units less defects in
production space-1, 0.007 units less defects in production
space-2 and 0.005 units less defects in production space -
3 (
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Table ). In terms of percentage, it can also be said that
increasing 10 unit of illumination level causes 9% less
defects in production space-1, 7% less defects in
production space-2 and 5% less defects in production
space -3. Frequency analysis of independent variable
(illumination level) of the samples with bin ranges from
200 lux to 1200 lux and more reveals that high frequency
samples had 401-1000 lux at their work-plane in production space-1, 2 and 3. Frequency analysis in bar
charts explain that for production unit 1 and 2, the
desired lighting for effective production is 601~800 lux,
while for production unit 3, it is 801~1000 lux.
Figure 4: Scatter pot chart showing correlation between thetwo variables with linear regression lines and linear equations
Table 6: Regression Statistics of two variablesSurveyed Units Regression Statistics
Production unit 1 Multiple R 0.611
R Square 0.373
Adjusted R Square 0.362
Standard Error 2.296
Observations (N) 60
Production unit 2 Multiple R 0.514
R Square 0.264
Adjusted R Square 0.251Standard Error 1.982
Observations (N) 60
Production unit 3 Multiple R 0.463
R Square 0.214
Adjusted R Square 0.201
Standard Error 2.747
Observations (N) 60
Table 7: Coefficients from Regression analysisSurveyed
Units Independent and
Dependent Variables*
Coefficients
(B Value)
Standard
Errort Stat
Productionunit 1
Intercept 10.979 1.154 9.518
X Variable 1 -0.009 0.002 -5.876
Productionunit 2
Intercept 8.157 1.054 7.740
X Variable 1 -0.007 0.002 -4.563
Productionunit 3
Intercept 7.608 0.992 7.669
X Variable 1 -0.005 0.001 -3.975
* Independent variable: illumination level and dependent variable: production
defects per hours (%)
On the other hand, while considering location of the
sample workers in terms of lighting environment or zone,highest numbers of the samples had low production
defects within partly natural light in the production
space-1. In production space-2, low production defects
were observed in mostly artificial lighting environment,
while in production space-3, low production defects were
notices in partly natural environment. The production
space configuration in terms of window location,
available daylight inside the production space can be one
of the reasons behind this result.
Table 8: Descriptive Statistics of effective lighting levelsIllumination level (at work plane) with low production defects, Lux
Production unit 01 Production unit 02 Production unit 03
Mean 835.9 724.8 898.8
Standard
Deviation
159.6 145.6 265.9
Minimum 520.0 425.0 390.0
Maximum 1150.0 1028.0 1490.0
Count 20.0 35.0 33.0
On the other hand, while considering location of the
sample workers in terms of lighting environment or zone,
highest numbers of the samples had low production
defects within partly natural light in the production
space-1. In production space-2, low production defects
were observed in mostly artificial lighting environment,
while in production space-3, low production defects were
notices in partly natural environment. The production
space configuration in terms of window location,
available daylight inside the production space can be one
of the reasons behind this result.
Table 9: Frequency of only those lighting environment with lownumbers (0%~3%) of defects using bin function
Lighting environment Bin* Productionunit 01
Productionunit 02
Productionunit 03
Completely Artificial
lighting environment -2 2 13 3
Mostly Artificial lighting
environment-1 0 18 5
Partly Natural lighting
environment0 21 4 22
*Here,-2,-1 and 0 are the dummy variables (bin ranges within -2 ~0) for the
convenience of statistical analysis.
The correlation coefficients revealed that there were
causal relationships between the illumination condition
and the work efficiency. Through the regression analysis
the relationship established a linear equation y=mx+c,
where ‘x’ and ‘y’ are the two variables, ‘m’ is the slope
and ‘c’ is the intercept of ‘y’. Slopes are from -0.0091 to
y = -0.0091x + 10.979
0123456789
10111213
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 P e r c e n t a g e o f P r o d u c t i o n d e f e c t s
p e r h o u r ( % )
Illumination Level at work plane (Lux)
Production defects vs Illumination level (Production unit 1)
y = -0.0071x + 8.1569
0123456789
1011
300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
P e r c e n t a g e o f P r o d u c t i o n
d e f e c t s p e r h o u r ( % )
Illumination Level at work plane (Lux)
Production defects vs Illumination Level (Production unit 2)
y = -0.0049x + 7.6085
0123456789
1011
300 500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 P e r c e n
t a g e o f P r o d u c t i o n d e f e c t s
p e r h o u r ( % )
Illumination Level at work plane (Lux)
Production defects vs Illumination Level (Production unit 3)
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-0.0049 (Table 10). The minus (-) sign of the slope
indicates that increasing the illumination level decreases
the production errors. The value reveals that increasing 1
unit of illumination level causes 0.91%~0.49% less
defects. Within this scope of research, it was found that
probable efficient illumination ranges was commonly
601-800 lux. As the overall lighting levels in lighting
ranges were bit high in production space-3, the finding ofthe ranges became high. Considering the mean values
and standard deviation from the mean values, it can be
said more specifically that the desired illumination level
at the work plane of the worker in production spaces to
achieve effective and quality production should be
around 700 lux (within range of 601~800 lux). However,
there must be no glare, veiling reflection or high contrast
at the work plane. Otherwise it could generate eye related
health hazards and reduce production.
Table 10: Comparative observation of the worker evaluation Terms Production
space-1Production
space-2Production
space-3
Samplecriteria
Number of Sampleworkers
60 60 60
Sex M: 36%, F:62%
M: 60%, F:40%
M: 59%, F:41%
Age group (Years) 18-25 18-25 22-29
Major Activity Name(Sewing)
Operator(75%)
Operator(45%)
Operator(43%)
Experience of sampleworkers
More than 2years
0.1-0.5 years 0.6-0.9 years
Total work hour(hours/day)
9-10hours/day
9-10hours/day
9-10hours/day
Linearrelationsh
ip
Causal relationship between Illumination
level (x) and percentage
of production defects per hour (y) , equation:
y=mx+c,
y = -0.0091x
+ 10.98
y = -0.0071x
+ 8.16
y = -0.0049x
+ 7.61
Ranges Illuminance ranges for
less defects (Lux)
601-800 601-800 801-1000
Mean Mean Illuminance forless defects (Lux)
836 725 899
Standarddeviation
Standard deviation(Illuminance for less
defects)
160 146 266
Quality oflight
Major Lightingenvironment for less
defects
Partly Natural light
(21)
Mostlyartificiallight (18)
Partly Natural light
(22)
CONCLUDING REMARKS:
From this research, the following specific as well as
some general recommendations can be drawn for
production spaces of RMG factories in context of Dhaka
region, Bangladesh, in order to improve the luminous
environment as well as future study:
The illumination level at the work-plane of the workers
should be within 600-800 lux (average 700lux) especially
for Sewing Operators, Sewing Helper, Quality Controller
and others.
As illumination level and production defects have
negative linear correlations, low illumination level at
work plane must be avoided.
From this research it has been found that about
21~37% (0.21~0.373 out of 1) of the illumination
condition has the causal effect on effective production
capacity of the worker. Other aspects like thermal,
psychological, other environmental features should be
also considered during evaluation of the workers
performance with effective production in future research.
The luminaires layout and their spacing should be
designed by architects or designers in such a way that
uniform lighting and required lighting level with daylight
inclusion should be ensured at any point of the horizontal
work plane in the production space for flexible
production flow design. Architects should design the production flow layout
within a production space in such a way that the critical
works, which require high lighting level to do the work
comfortably, can be placed near openings of the
production spaces to ensure better luminous environment
for the workers with better productivity.
This research was also conducted only in purpose
built RMG factories where the production spaces
maintain some certain environmental compliance.
Guidelines suggested in this paper can be considered by
the architects or designers while designing a standard
production space with accommodating compliances
possibly for LEED certification process or can be applied
during construction or renovation of the production
spaces.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
The authors acknowledge Bangladesh University of
Engineering & Technology and GIZ for their support.
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findebookee.com.. http://findebookee.com/t/textiles-design-and-
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