ICT Class Fourth Meeting

Will Your Printer Harm You? 

In this fourth meeting, I just learnt that a printer can actually cause plenty of diseases. This confused me at first, but after some researches and a presentation from my friends, I finally understood how it might harm us. Here are some points that you have to know!

1. OZONE GAS

• Ozone is a type of oxygen gas that is unstable. It is, in fact, still reactive and it is poisonous that it might cause many illnesses. This gas is produced as a result of the breakdown when the printer is copying the image. 
• Ozone will be produced in a room with bad ventilation. 
• In a huge amount, this gas may cause eye irritation, lung, nose, and throat infection. Other symptoms can be headache, extremely tired and temporary insensitive smelling ability. 
• Researches mentioned that ozone may also cause premature birth of a child and short span of life. 

2. TONER

• Toner is made from various type of black carbon formula. This soft powder can get out during the printing process. 
• Toner is more dangerous than the ozone gas. It causes respiratory irritation, causing you so sneeze and cough. 
• This powder is made up of chemicals. If possible, avoid skin contact with the printer. Make sure that the toner is inside the cartridge during the printing process. 
• If there might be a risk that you have to have a skin contact with the printer, you have to wear a disposable masker and gloves. 

3. NOISES

• A printer with a very high speed is at risk to produce too many noises. 
• Those printers produce more than 80 dB noise, while a printer should just produce noise with lower than 60 dB. 
• Too much noises especially in a long period of time will cause stress and concentration problems. In a press factory, this in the main problem they have since these noises cause their ears to be deaf in some period of time. 

4. ULTRAVIOLET

• This light is actually not a problem. The problem comes when our eye contacts with this light repeatedly. 
• Ultraviolet is believed to cause eye irritation, tense feeling and severe headache. 

5. HEAT

• Heat is generated during printing process. If ventilation and heat dissipation is not right, this can lead to an increase in temperature of the room which can cause discomfort to you. 
• This is, in fact, one of the minor problems of the printer. 

So those are the danger a printer can cause! To help you solve them, I have a few tips that is quite important.

1. OZONE EFFECT

• Purchase a printer with low ozone emissions or a printer that is equipped with activated carbon filters. Activated carbon provides 100% protection from exposure to ozone. 
• Maintain your printer regularly. Good maintenance can reduce the concentration of ozone produced.
• Indoor air quality should me monitor regularly to reduce nose and throat infection. 

2. VENTILATION

• A well ventilated area is needed to facilitate the disposal of dust, gas, and steam safely. 
• Place the printer in a room that is well ventilated with fresh air intake system or an air exhaust system equipped with a filter. 
• Leave space around the printer for good air movement (mechanical ventilation according to the Standard). 

3. NOISE

• Place the copier in an area where the noise effect will be minimal. 
• This may need to be increased by selecting a photo copy machine is equipped with a sound absorbent material.

4. CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES

• Use a toner system that is accommodated and automatically turns off if there is a leaking toner in the printer.
• Disposable rubber gloves should be available and used when handling inked paper or wet chemical processes, clean up and dispose of liquid or ink to avoid contact with skin. 
• Spills or toner consumption must be placed in plastic bags and labeled "Chemical waste" 

Those are some tips to reduce the harm of your printer that I learnt during my fourth meeting of ICT class. Be careful when using your printer! 

ICT Class Third Meeting

The Proper Sitting and Eye Positions

In this third meeting, my group had the chance to present about this topic. Here are the main points of my presentation: 

• How to sit:
• Sit in an upright position, make sure your backbone and your spine are comfortable.
• If you are not comfortable yet, try to purchase a small cushion to support your lower backbone. 
• A special cushion can also be purchased in certain stores.
• If you don't have any cushion, try to buy a comfortable office chair - it doesn't have to be the expensive one.
• Feet Position 
• Make sure your feet are supported either by the floor or by a special tool. This special tool can be bought from certain stores.
• If you can't find any support, buy a chair that has a footrest on it already. 
• Don't let your feet hang above the floor! It may cause pain to your feet. 
• Hand Position 
• Your arm and hand must lay totally on a table or a keyboard tray, but make sure it is not too far from the mouse. 
• Letting only some part of your arm laying on the table may cause the nerves and bone of your hand pain. 
• Hip Position 
• Your hip must be push against the back of the chair. 
• Don't let your hip sit only in some part of the chair since it may cause aches on your backbone.
• This may also cause you not to sit upright.
• Head Position
• When working with your computer, your head and neck must be parallel with the monitor. Besides, they must also be aligned with it - not to high or too low. 
• Improper head positions may cause a pain in the neck. 
• Eye Position 
• For those who do not wear glasses, you can still follow the rule above (being aligned with the monitor) and make sure that your eyes are 45-70 cm away from the monitor
• If you are wearing glasses, you have to bow your head a little, so that the light do not reflect on your glasses. 

Those are the ergonomic position when you are working with your computer. If you don't really care about all of those, you might be like this: 

To make sure that you won't get all of those pains, your sitting position must be like this: 

This post concludes the ICT class on the third meeting. Good luck!

ICT Class Second Meeting

Set Up Your Desk and Chair Ergonomically! 

Like the keyboard, monitor and mouse ergonomic positions I've told you in the last post, table and chair must also be adjusted to create your best work station ever - the most comfortable one which won't cause back, neck, shoulder, hand or even wrist pain. 

1. DESK

• Height - Make sure the height of your desk is not too high or too low since yes yes yes it can cause pains on some parts of your body. Adjust your table according to your height. Your hand resting on the table must be 90 degree to get the most comfortable position.
•  Length - A huge desk won't be needed. Just make sure your desk is wide enough to put all of the stuffs like the monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, speaker, etc. If possible, a U shaped desk might also be efficient. If your desk is located on the corner of your house, a L shape one might be more efficient. 

2. CHAIR

• Shape - Buy a chair which it's length can be adjusted. So even if your table is too short, you can lower your chair easily to get the most comfortable position ever. Office chairs are best for workstations. Make sure your chair has the back rest too, to reduce back pain. Some chairs nowadays even provide the neck rest to relax it. Armrest and footrest are also important in a chair. They can give the most comfortable position ever.

• Seating Position - Your seating position will determine your back bone. 90-110 degree of your back might be the best position when you're sitting. Your foot must also be about that angle. Make sure your bottom is pressed against the chair. 
• Distance - Too far or too close chair distance is bad for the eyes and neck. Your chair must be 20-40 inches from your table. 

To sum it up,the ergonomic desk and chair set up is like this. To get the most out of them, make sure your desk and chair is positioned like this. 

This post sums up my conclusions of the second meeting. Set up the most comfortable workstation for yourself! 

ICT Class First Meeting

Ergonomic Use of The Keyboard, Monitor and Mouse 

Most of you don't actually care where to put your keyboard, monitor or mouse since you think that they don't actually impact on your health. I'm telling you right now that it's totally wrong! Improper positions may cause hand, wrist and shoulder pains. Here, I have provided you some tips on how you can ergonomically use them. 

1. KEYBOARD

• Height - Your keyboard must not be too low or too high, which may cause awkward positions of your wrist and that, may cause hand, wrist and shoulder discomfort. It is important to have the most comfort position of your keyboard, depending on how tall your table or chair is. You can adjust the lever on your chair to have your comfort zone, or you may also set a keyboard tray so that you can adjust the height of your keyboard easily.
• Distance - The distance of your keyboard must not be too far or too close. Adjust it so that it is directly in front of you. Since yes, again, if it's placed wrongly, it may cause pain to your hand, wrist and shoulder.
• Use - Keep your wrist from bending since it may cause pain on your wrist. Maintain a neutral and straight position. 

2. MONITOR

• Distance - Make sure your eyes are set 20-40 inches from the monitor. This might reduce the risk of having eye problems. Besides, improper distances might cause muscle pain. The size of the font on your monitor must also be big enough to be seen. You can provide spaces between your work desk so you can adjust the distance easily.
• Viewing Angle - Too low or too high angles might cause pain in your neck. The best viewing angle is shown on the picture below. To adjust the angle, you may lower/higher your chair, depending on your monitor's position.

• Viewing Time - Don't view your monitor too long since it may cause eye dryness. Every 20 minutes, rest your eye for 2-3 minutes.

3. MOUSE 

• Position - Make sure your mouse is not too close with the keyboard since it may cause awkward positions for the wrist. Adjust the mouse so it's far enough from the keyboard and as comfortable as possible. If possible, place your mouse on the keyboard tray. This can reduce the risk of wrist pain.
• Size and Shape - Choose a mouse that fits your hand properly. You might have to try a lot of mouses to find a perfect fit for your hand. 
• Grip - Avoid to grip your mouse to strong. Don't worry, your mouse is dead already! Hold it gently so it won't broke easily.

Overall, the most comfort workstation looks like this. This kind of position will reduce the pains you are all complaining about.

So, these are the conclusions and the tips I got from my research and my friends' presentation on the first meeting of the ICT class. Hope it might help! (: