ISO/CIE 8995-3:2018

Overview

ISO/CIE 8995-3:2018 - "Lighting of work places - Part 3: Lighting requirements for safety and security of outdoor work places" specifies lighting criteria that support the visual needs for safety and security in outdoor workplaces. It provides target maintained illuminances, uniformity, glare limits and minimum colour‑rendering performance to help ensure visibility, hazard recognition and comfortable night‑time operation across a range of outdoor risk environments.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Risk‑based illuminance (Em): The standard defines maintained average illuminance values for different risk levels:
  • Very low risk: 5 lx
  • Low risk: 10 lx
  • Medium risk: 20 lx
  • High risk: 50 lx
• Illuminance uniformity (Uo): Minimum uniformity ratios are specified (typically 0.25–0.40) to avoid deep dark spots that can hide hazards or impede surveillance.
• Glare control (CIE Glare Rating, GR): Glare rating limits are set (e.g., RG,L = 55, 50 or 45 depending on risk) and verification uses the CIE GR method (CIE 112) to assess direct and veiling luminance from luminaires.
• Colour rendering (CIE Ra): Minimum CIE 1974 general colour rendering index Ra ≥ 20 to ensure safety colours and human features remain recognizable.
• Verification procedures: Requirements for verification by measurement, calculation or inspection, including:
  • Measuring illuminance in the plane of the task using the design grid,
  • Considering meter calibration, lamp photometry and actual surface reflectances,
  • Documenting assumptions used in glare and colour‑rendering evaluations.
• Design criteria: Annex A (normative) provides details on glare calculation and practical guidance for applying the criteria.

Practical applications and users

ISO/CIE 8995-3:2018 is intended for lighting designers, electrical engineers, facility and site managers, occupational safety professionals and asset owners responsible for outdoor industrial and commercial sites such as:

• Harbours, docks and container terminals
• Industrial yards, storage areas and petrochemical plants
• Power plants, switch‑yards and oil stores
• Construction sites, sawmills and vehicle storage areas The standard helps ensure adequate night‑time visibility for safe operations, incident prevention, access control and security surveillance.

Related standards

• CIE S 015 - Lighting of outdoor work places
• CIE S 017 - International Lighting Vocabulary
• CIE 112 - Glare evaluation system for outdoor lighting
• ISO 3864‑1 - Safety colours and signs (referenced for safety‑colour recognition)

Keywords: ISO/CIE 8995-3:2018, lighting of work places, outdoor work places, illuminance, uniformity, glare rating, colour rendering, safety and security, verification procedures.