Page 59 - IEC Insights Sept-Oct21

Innovations include:
• 1940s: Fluorescent lights tripled
the efficiency of incandescent
bulbs and lasted longer.
• 1990s: Compact fluorescent lights
(CFLs) cut the energy use of
incandescent bulbs by about 75 percent
and lasted about 10 times longer.
• 1995: The age of LEDs (light-emitting
diodes) began, with high-quality
LED lamps using at least 75 percent
less energy than incandescent
lamps and lasting 25 times longer.

Continuing the belief that “there
is a better way,” more recent
innovations fundamentally
changed temporary lighting:
• 2009: Milwaukee Tool became the
first manufacturer to integrate LED
lamps into battery-operated, cordless
lighting solutions that are built to
withstand jobsite conditions.
with 1,003 preventable fatal work hidden hazardous conditions masked • 2020: Milwaukee’s MX FUEL™
injuries, a 2% increase. Practical safety by poor lighting. These can include ROCKET™ Tower Light/Charger
measures to reduce the risk of injury can a change in elevation in a darkened joined the new MX FUEL™ line of
be as simple as using effective jobsite area, a slick spot on a walkway, an battery-operated solutions that
lighting in both harsh outdoor sites unseen cord, or an obstacle in a dimly redefines light equipment.
and specialized indoor conditions. lit path, stairway, or parking lot.
Along with the evolution in technology,
VISIBILITY HAZARDS Also, when heavy equipment is located the mindset on today’s jobsites is
on shadowy sites, workers may not be changing. Workers realize that safety
Noncompliance risks an unhappy able to see where a moving object is risks they used to accept as “part of the
workforce, jeopardizes the safety located relative to them, how fast it’s job,” such as the risks surrounding poor
and health of employees, and moving, or how it’s shaped, with possible lighting, are addressable on the jobsite.
can trigger legal costs, workers’ protruding attachments. Workers
compensation claims, and fines. operating heavy machinery like bulldozers An example: In 2020, Koetter
or backhoes could strike a crew member. Construction began a field tryout of MX
Poor lighting can contribute to falls, FUEL™ battery-powered equipment.
which are the leading cause of fatal Portable battery-powered tower Koetter is one of the largest full-service,
workplace injuries. All “Fatal Four” lights can help jobsites immediately design-build general contractors and
accident categories can potentially be meet the need for visibility. commercial developers in Southern
impacted by inadequate lighting. Indiana and Greater Louisville,
A BETTER WAY TO WORK Kentucky. As a result of the months-
In addition to fatalities, poor lighting can long tryout, Koetter crews realized the
contribute to slip, trip, and non-fatal fall Lighting technology has leapfrogged
injuries. Severe consequences like back from Thomas Edison’s first commercially benefits of eliminating gas-powered
equipment and its maintenance. “You
injuries and torn ligaments can result. practical incandescent bulb in 1879 to
today’s era of LED tower lights. Each don’t know what you don’t know,”
Even a normally safe area in the daylight, time, new technology disrupted the Hardscape Manager Nick Moses said.
such as an ordinary curb, can become a way people lived and worked. And each “We accepted the problems but
fall hazard after dark if lighting is absent. time, these innovations delivered on now we realize we don’t have to.”
Workers on foot can be injured due to the belief: “There is a better way.”

www.ieci.org | September/October 2021 | Insights Magazine 57