Health and Safety Matthew brings YOU, what YOU should know about health and safety in the I.C.T. workplace.

Sit up straight and make yourself comfortable! When sitting at your desk remember to :-  Sit in a five-legged chair to avoid being knocked over! The more legs the better!  Try to keep your lower arms and thighs in a roughly horizontal position whilst working with the keyboard.  Most of all be comfortable and safe!

Have a TOP work top !  Have a worktop which is the right height mm (720mm is recommended.)  Matt worktops in a cream or beige colour are recommended in order to reduce glare.  Never use worktops for something to place drinks on!

There’s no use crying over SPILT MILK!  Water and liquids can be very dangerous so make sure YOU know the precautions!  Always keep electrical wires at least one metre away from liquids.  Don’t drink or have food near your computer and NEVER place cups near computers they can easily be knocked over!  If at all possible a room to have food and drink should be given. Water way to go!

Be the bright spark and bring LIGHT into YOUR life!  Windows should be fitted with non-reflective blinds preferably beige. Don’t just blind it out!  Consideration should be given to positioning of the screen away from light reflection and glare.  The optimum position is at right angles to the source of natural light.  Always be in a well lit room!

See the BiGgEr picture with YOUR monitor!  All new screens must be fitted with tilt and swivel stands.  Sufficient room is needed for the screen to be moved back and forward.  Ideally, the top of the screen should be at eye level.  Using a filter on your monitor will reduce eye strain. (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!)

Know this, and you’ll LEAD the way!  Leads should preferably be in trunking above the height of the worktops or be safely tied.  An adequate number of supply sockets should be provided to eliminate the need for trailing wires.  It is safer to switch the equipment off at the wall socket or room master switch.  In a thunderstorm ensure ALL electrical equipment is unplugged from the mains!

Don’t extinguish the danger of fire!  A fire extinguisher suitable for electrical fires (such as carbon dioxide) must be provided in all computer rooms.  Be sensible around dangerous and flammable substances and be careful of dangerous equipment.  The location of the nearest fire exit must be notified near the door in each room.  If you see a fire DON’T PANIC! Alert colleagues and make a quick exit from the building DO NOT USE LIFTS!!!  DO NOT TAKE RISKS and only try to put out SMALL FIRES!! I only flicked the little red switch at the back of the computer! Take note of info before you make an inferno!

Don’t get unnecessary strain and pain!  Repetitive Strain Injury  This may be caused by repetitive finger movements over very long periods of time.  In order to reduce muscle fatigue and strain, users should be encouraged to get up and move around at reasonably frequent intervals, (and for 5 – 10 minutes at a time at least once every hour for example to collect equipment, and to do other forms of work.

Eye eye and there’s more!  In order to reduce eyestrain, users should be encouraged to look away from the screen and focus on a distant object from time to time - this will relax their eye muscles.  The wearing of spectacles also helps prevent possible soreness caused by the bombardment of ionised dust particles from the screen.  Also avoid using the computer when you are tired.

Lifting…?Don’t put it to the BACK of your mind!  When lifting equipment take into account:-  Do you need to lift the item manually?  How heavy is it?  Where are you moving the item from?  Where does it have to go?  What route do you have to follow?  Remember if the item is too heavy get some help, and if there’s strain there’s bound to be pain!

Don’t talk to a wall, get a firewall! Don’t talk to a wall, get a firewall!  Nowadays viruses in computers are VERY common. So what should you do to antidote them? Here is what you SHOULD be doing at the very least!  Have a good firewall.  Have an Anti-Virus software (and keep it up-to date!)  Always scan attachments (some anti-virus programs do automatically.)  Keep a back up of your work! H&S HAZARD!!

A BIG THANK YOU! I hate this job… Thank you to everyone who watched this presentation. I hope this presentation has been of some use to you. PLEASE PLEASE take note of what has been said and if you do you’ll just be like the people below (yes it’s a good thing) Once again thank you. This presentation was made By Matthew Scruton.