Your Health and Safety Committee looks
at a great many ways to protect our workers from not just accidents
but health issues as well. Perhaps it is time that we made an assessment
of the environment in which we work. Where are the health hazards
in your classroom?
I suggest you consider the surfaces that we share. The desktops, the
door knobs, pencils, etc. If someone has a germ or virus on their
hands it is transferred to the common objects that we ourselves touch
as well. In a recent study in England a university group took swab
samples from toilettes and keyboards. Which do you think had the higher
levels of contamination? The keyboards had up to 150 times more viruses
and germs than the toilette seat.
As teachers, we check into First Class diligently to check our emails.
Almost always, we are using a keyboard that is in common use by other
individuals throughout the day. Did those other individuals practice
good hygiene? Do those other individuals wash their hands routinely?
If not, their infectious germs and viruses are there on that keyboard
ready for transfer.
You can protect yourself by instituting a regular routine of hand
washing. Obtain and use hand sanitizer at your desk, but it must be
stored in your desk. The reason for this is because they are most
often 'alcohol based' and children have become sick from licking it
and some have even lit it on fire.
I notice that hand sanitizers are available through the warehouse
catalogue. I highly recommend that we all keep them handy in our desks
and use them regularly.
To read the article about keyboards and toilettes click on this link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7377002.stm
Allan Kirby
Health and Safety Committee
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