Healthcare Lighting

The evolving personal hygiene, medical and healthcare lighting product marketplace

Healthcare lighting covers a variety of design requirements to address the complex nature of hospitals, research facilities and patient care offices. Going beyond general illumination, healthcare lighting must address additional needs for behavioral health, cleaning protocols, infection control standards and interoperability requirements to measure potential impacts of lighting around other specialized medical equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) devices. In addition, lighting in healthcare settings must cater to many different locations and environments, including nursing stations, exam rooms, surgical centers, patient rooms, and other administrative and functional areas. 

Advancements in lighting technology and controls provide healthcare facilities the ability to specify both the spectrum and timing of lighting, benefiting both patients and healthcare workers. High-quality lighting throughout the environment offers front-line healthcare workers the opportunity for proper visual acuity to effectively complete their specific task at hand, potentially leading to higher patient and employee satisfaction.

In the highly regulated healthcare industry, managing products in multiple regions requires additional attention. International rules and regulations are constantly being updated, and manufacturers’ designs and supply chains are challenged to keep up with them. To meet industry needs, UL Solutions’ services continue to evolve with science and the ever-changing regulatory landscape.

Ultraviolet and germicidal lighting

Beyond illumination, lighting in the nonvisual ultraviolet spectrum can also reduce infection and spread of disease. While the world adapts to address the global COVID-19 pandemic, great care must be taken to ensure that potential damage to human skin, eyes and lungs by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is avoided.

Visit our page for Products with Ultraviolet Radiation Testing and Certification to learn more about safety, certification and performance testing for different types of UVC germicidal devices in healthcare and commercial environments.

Human-centric lighting

The emerging lighting technologies that focus on the impact of light on health and well-being are growing rapidly. In medical and healthcare applications, human-centric lighting (HCL) has an important impact on patient outcomes, with LED light therapy being used to treat skin and sleep disorders, as well as other conditions related to circadian rhythm.

We recognize that, beyond utility, the future of lighting is connected to its impact on human health and well-being. The recent publication of UL DG 24480, Design Guideline for Promoting Circadian Entrainment with Light for Day-Active People, offers potential baseline performance goals for indoor lighting specifiers and building owners to consider when seeking circadian entrainment in addition to quality illumination.

Visit our page for Human-centric lighting to learn more.

Why UL Solutions for healthcare lighting services

We offer a full range of lighting testing and certification services, for both safety and performance, through our worldwide network of laboratories and engineering facilities.  

Our safety and performance testing takes into account considerations of materials, durability, maintenance, sanitation and sustainability, as well as specialized healthcare considerations like non-ferromagnetic MRI-compatible lighting and the user interface and interoperability requirements for hospital and healthcare settings. 

Lighting has progressed beyond merely illumination to have a positive impact on doctor-patient diagnostics, improved patient well-being and germicidal effectiveness. As new metrics related to the impact of lighting emerge with new technology, we can help you with performance testing and UL Marketing Claim Verification.

Contact us today to discuss your healthcare lighting projects and how we can help you achieve your goals.