Notes

Discuss the importance of proper lighting conditions for aircraft maintenance engineers.

This is my essay answer that explains the importance of proper lighting conditions for aircraft maintenance engineers and how it can effect there performance.

Aircraft engineers need sufficient lighting to be able to work effectively and safely, therefore it is important that their work is conducted under proper lighting conditions. During the work of an aircraft engineers they are expected to work within areas of the aircraft where little to no rays of light can get to, this may be because the natural light can come into the area they are working or they are in a shadow from the aircraft. In these type of specific environments where the engineer is working in compartments that are not lit up or not enough lighting the artificial lights may be an effective way to counter act the darkness. However when using bright lights in areas, glare may occur on the airframe of the aircraft and can be a negative effect on the engineer resulting in not being able to see clearly enough to conduct his task. In some cases bright lights can also cause headaches and can be annoying and of putting resulting in a lack of judgement for the engineer, the inappropriate lighting can overstimulate the cones in the eye ball which can increase the time required to do the work.

A torch is also a form of lighting tool used that is very convenient when accessing small and awkward places, as some industrial lighting can be too big, require plug in power and too heavy to move around, where as a torch is small and lightweight making it more practical in certain situations, however one down side to torches is that most hand held torches require someone to hold them in position, which can take up one of the only two hands the engineer has which can increase time needed to complete a task and may also no be able to do it properly, also most torches are battery powered and murthys law tells us that the batteries will run out when the engineer needs the light the most, so it is practical to always have a spare pair of batteries on you if needed.

In conclusion engineers need adequate lighting in order to be able to do there job effectively and safely, however too much light can cause negative impacts such as glare and can be distracting also not enough light can not be enough to see into more difficult areas, and that using equipment that doesn't impede on motor hand skills.