Posted By Mitch
Just had a proposed lighting system for a new factory from the designer to be suspended at 9.6m high. With my colleagues in maintenance I am looking at future access requirements and would like to be sure we are covering all options. Has anyone got any advice, pointers in this area that we should be considering? i.e. access equipment, methods etc and any experience of minimum maintenance lighting systems.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Posted By Bob Youel

stop the designer at this stage and get lighting put in that negates as much maintenance etc at height as poss

may be more expensive at the initial stages but its definitely cheaper in the long run

Posted By Robert.
You haven't said which type of lighting so I assume hi-bay metal halide or SOX.
If they are, you may need a toughened glass cover.
It's all very easy to say that the lighting designer has not addressed maintenance access. This may not be his remit as he is only interested in the correct lighting levels. However the fact that maintenance is inevitable should be discussed at the design stage and the customer should consider that. Before maintenance, the lighting has to be installed, obviously at height, but how?
Effective maintenance could be carried out from a "hired in" scissor lift and planned in such a way that it corresponds with expected lamp life. You could also consider if you indeed need hi-bay lighting and opt for a low-bay equivalent. There will still be height issue although it could be significantly be decreased. Is the floor to lamp height critical? There are pulley systems available, very expensive and do require maintenance.
The frequency of maintenance at height (annually??) vs a mech lowering method (cost and maint)is one that only the customer could answer. Thinking about it the normal street lamps are maintained-----at height.

Posted By Mitch
That's hit the spot, just the job. This is the sort of thing we have been looking for to negate the requirement to work at height, thanks a lot.