GCSE ICT

1
GCSE ICT

• LESSON 11
• Booklet Sections 21 22
• Health Safety, The Office

2
Health and Safety Why?

• People have a right to be safe at work.
• All employers must do as much as they can to
  ensure that their workers are safe.
• This is enforceable in law Health and Safety at
  Work Act (1974).

3
Hazards in an ICT workplace

• The main hazards to heath in an ICT workplace
  are
• Backache.
• Eyestrain.
• Headaches.
• Repetitive Strain Injury.
• Radiation.

4
Backache

• What can be done to alleviate backache?
• Swivelling chairs.
• Movable base with castors.
• Adjustable back rests that support the lower back
  area.
• Regular breaks to change posture.

5
Eye strain and headaches

• What can be done to combat eye strain and
  headaches?
• No screen flicker.
• Angle, brightness, and contrast must be
  adjustable.
• Reduction of reflective light.
• Proper and adequate lighting.
• Free, regular eye tests for VDU operators.

6
Repetitive strain injury

• How can RSI be avoided?
• Keyboard should be separate from the VDU.
• Keyboard must be adjustable so that they can lie
  at an angle of 10 degrees
• Keyboard should have concave keys to prevent
  fingers slipping and reduce impact shock on
  fingertips, fingers, wrists, and arms.
• Mouse with a gel wrist support.

7
Radiation

• What can be done to reduce radiation hazards?
• Special radiation reduction shields on VDUs.
• Use LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitors.

8
Avoiding hazards
9
Things that must be considered when designing an
office
Is this typical? Is this safe?
10
Things that must be considered when designing an
office

• Adequate lighting.
• No glare.
• Minimal noise.
• Good leg room.
• Blinds
• Appropriate software.
• Placement of VDU.
• Adjusted keyboard
• Clear work surface
• Adjustable chair
• Proper ventilation temperature

11
The electronic office

• For many years offices were dominated by paper.
• Everything was recorded on paper either
  hand-written or typewritten and this had to be
  stored.
• Offices required large numbers of filing cabinets
  and filing clerks just to store and keep track of
  all the paperwork they produced.

12
The electronic office
13
The electronic office

• With the introduction of computers in offices
  there has been a gradual move towards a paperless
  office.
• This has many advantages including
• Reduced costs (no need for filing cabinets or
  filing clerks).
• Reduced office space (filing cabinets take up
  considerable amounts of floor space).
• Individual office workers can access information
  much quicker.

14
The electronic office
15
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• Modern offices use a variety of different
  electronic equipment and facilities, although the
  majority are computer-based.

16
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• These include
• Fax (facsimile) machines.
• Email (electronic mail).
• EDI (electronic data interchange).
• Teletext.
• The Internet.
• Teleconferencing.
• Telecommuting.

17
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• Fax (facsimile) machines scan documents and
  transmit digital images of them to other fax
  machines.
• They are particularly useful for sending copies
  of plans, drawings, or letters.

18
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• Email (electronic mail) is fast replacing
  ordinary post as a means of sending messages
  between terminals on computer networks.
• Emails can be stored digitally and this means
  that both the sender and receiver can reduce
  their reliance on paper-based filing systems.

19
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• EDI (electronic data interchange) is the method
  by which different companies computer systems can
  automatically exchange data.
• For example, a food retailers computer can
  automatically order more of a product from a
  suppliers computer when its stocks fall to a
  certain level. This order is also paid for
  electronically using the same system.

20
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• Teletext uses the spare capacity of the
  television broadcast system to send text to any
  suitably equipped television.
• Teletext has limitations but does not require a
  computer for users to access it.

21
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• The Internet allows anyone who has a computer,
  modem, telephone line, and Internet Service
  Provider (ISP) to gain access to the World Wide
  Web (www).
• The introduction of broadband connections has
  made access to the Internet very fast, and if
  used properly the Internet can make a vast amount
  of information available to users.

22
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• Teleconferencing allows people in different
  offices (often very far apart) the opportunity to
  discuss and share information face-to-face.
• This means that travel time and travel costs for
  the people involved are considerably reduced.

23
Electronic office equipment and facilities

• Telecommuting allows people to work at home
  rather than having to travel every day to an
  office to work.
• It is a way of bringing the job to the person
  rather than the person to the job.