Dangerous IT Devices And Ways To Prevent

Below risks are affecting not only to your life but also for the productivity of your company. If employees have health problems, they won’t come to the job regularly. The company is responsible for its worker’s lives, so it may have to pay lots of money to protect their employees. This situation is not good for both financial and for the goodwill of the company. 

CRT Monitors

First, we need to identify the way of CRT monitor works. Signals from your computer graphic card are loaded into three electron guns at the base of the monitor. There is one gun for each of three colors, Red, Blue and Green when these tree colors mixed together it can create all the colors you see on your screen. These guns shoot a powerful beam of electrons towards the face of the monitor. The beams pass through the deflection yoke. It uses magnetism to bend the electronic beams, so they can sweep across the entire screen and create the picture we see.

By exposing to electromagnetic fields of CRT monitors you may get chromosomal changes, bad effects on eye retina, cancers, disturbance of bone growth and heart rate, and alterations to the genetic structure of the cells. Not only that, when disposing of CRT monitors, they release toxic compounds to the environment. You can simply avoid these electromagnetic fields by sitting away from the monitor at least about 85cm. Also, you can use Anti-Glare Protection Filters to reduce the exposing to this electromagnetic radiation or else you can simply shift to the latest LED monitors which are the best option for your health. 

However, there are some basic things to follow in order to reduce the bad effects from any type of monitors.

1. Follow 20-20-20 rule
2. Every 20 minutes, take 20-second break and look at anything 20 feet away
3. Adjust the monitor to 15 to 20 degrees below your eye level. (measured from the center of the screen and 20 to 28 inches from the eyes)
4. Starring at monitor may dry your eyes and cause redness and irritation. So remember to blink your eyes periodically.
5. Avoid high-intensity lamps, which cast shadows and create glare. Place a dim light on either side of your workstation to create equal brightness without dark and shadowed areas.
6. Keep the monitor bright in order to reduce flicker rate and fatigue.
7. Clean your monitor screen regularly to minimize the glare. 

Printers

According to the researchers of Queensland University of Technology's Air Quality and Health Program, they say that some printers are emitting toner dust particles in a form of ultrafine particles. These dusts can enter into your lungs when you are inhaling. This may cause respiratory problems, cardiovascular problems, cancers etc. These researchers fear that these UFPs may contain Carcinogens. 

Below are some solutions that you can take to avoid this toner dust problem.

1. Take measures to increase the ventilation of your office.
2. When a printing process is happening do not stay near to the printer
3. If a printer is using highly, you can locate that printer in a separate room
4. You can also wear masks before doing any printing activities

Optical Fiber

Most fiber optic systems do not have sufficient power to cause harms to your eyes. As fiber optics systems worked in the infrared region, not in the visible section of the spectrum, you can’t see most of the light. The light exiting the optical fiber exits in a cone so that by the time the light reaches your eye, you only see a very small part of it, and the fact that its expanding makes it impossible to actually focus on your retina where it causes harm. However, there are systems which have very high power from many wavelengths and fiber amplifiers like DWDM systems that can cause damages to your eyes. Never look into any kind of fiber with your eyes or using a microscope without making sure that there is no optical power. Fiber scraps are also dangerous. 

Below are some precautions you should take before dealing with any kind of fiber optics.

1. Always wear safety glasses with side shields.
2. Treat fiber optic scraps same as you would treat glass splinters.
3. Always wear gloves and masks before working with fiber optics.
4. Do not touch your eyes while working with fiber optics, until you wash your hands properly.
5. Always work in well-ventilated areas
6. Keep all combustion items safely away from you.

Devices Which Use Laser Scanning 

Optical mice, optical drives and barcode scanners are some devices which use laser beams. Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration (OSHA) categorized these devices as Class II devices. The definition of a Class II device is one that is limited to laser output levels of 1 milliwatt or less and are restricted to visible light, most typically red lasers. These Class II lasers only effect to you if it directly falls on to your eyes for a long period.  

Mobile Phones 

Each mobile phone emits radio waves in a form of non-ionizing radiation and the tissues near the antenna of the phone will absorb this energy. However, according to the researchers of National Cancer Institute (NCI), there is no any proof that mobile phones are responsible for cancers.