Green lights - original article

I have translated the original article regarding the green lamps on oil platforms.

Each year, 60 million birds migrate across the North Sea. The majority safely reach the other side. In certain weather conditions, birds will be attracted to and disoriented by the traditional lighting on oil and gas platforms. They will circle or alight on the installations for a long period of time, making the birds too weak to reach the shore. There is a 1 in 10 chance that these weather conditions occur.

In order to tackle this problem, research was conducted which revealed that birds will be distracted by red components in the spectrum of light, but less so by green or blue. Blue lights are not safe in a working environment, as workers cannot see well enough. Lights without a red component make it hard to discern objects like a fire extinguisher. A compromise would therefore have to be reached between safety at work and safety for birds.

Platform L15, which lies a few miles north of the Dutch coast, has had all of its 380 external lamps replaced with the special striplights and high-efficiency bulbs, which shine green. Preliminary results are positive, both from a workers' welfare and bird distraction point of view.

Source: NAM / Philips