Flight attendant reported that the flight attendants' manual fails to address cabin lighting matchin...

Narrative:

The fight attendants manual (fam) states that the entry/aft entry overhead lights must be set to dim or bright (dim/brt) for nighttime. This is a reduced safety standard. The cabin lights must be night and the window lights off for takeoff. By requiring the flight attendants (F/a) to have the lights in the forward entry on dim/brt for takeoff; there is a risk of impairment of assessing the exterior conditions at night if an evacuation becomes necessary. Because of the bright light increasing the amount of time; it would take one's eyes to adjust to the nighttime conditions outside. By requiring the F/a to have the lights this bright the company is actually placing the F/a in harm's way; and requiring them to abide by a reduced safety standard. If the F/a were to darken the lights as one would naturally want to at nighttime; they risk a safety violation and discipline from the company. Also; the passengers in the first few rows are at the same risk of having their eyes needing additional time to adjust to the outside conditions as the glare from the entry lights would affect them-specifically the aircraft's right side rows 1-4.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight attendant reported that the Flight Attendants' Manual fails to address cabin lighting matching outside environment; thus posing a risk to both the cabin crew and passengers in the event of an emergency evacuation.

Narrative: The Fight Attendants Manual (FAM) states that the entry/aft entry overhead lights must be set to dim or bright (DIM/BRT) for nighttime. This is a reduced safety standard. The cabin lights must be Night and the window lights OFF for takeoff. By requiring the Flight Attendants (F/A) to have the lights in the forward entry on DIM/BRT for takeoff; there is a risk of impairment of assessing the exterior conditions at night if an evacuation becomes necessary. Because of the bright light increasing the amount of time; it would take one's eyes to adjust to the nighttime conditions outside. By requiring the F/A to have the lights this bright the company is actually placing the F/A in harm's way; and requiring them to abide by a reduced safety standard. If the F/A were to darken the lights as one would naturally want to at nighttime; they risk a safety violation and discipline from the company. Also; the passengers in the first few rows are at the same risk of having their eyes needing additional time to adjust to the outside conditions as the glare from the entry lights would affect them-specifically the Aircraft's right side rows 1-4.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1517101
Time
Date	201802
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cabin Lighting
Person 1
Function	Other / Unknown
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

Flight attendant reported that the flight attendants' manual fails to address cabin lighting matching outside environment; thus posing a risk to both the cabin crew and passengers in the event of an emergency evacuation.