Posted By Graeme Main Hello all, I have just been asked and hope that someone out there can help in answering it. When it comes to looking at CCTV monitors is there any guidance on distances you should be away from the monitor, space around the workstation etc or does it all fall within the DSE regs? Thanks as ever for any information you maybe able to provide. Graeme.

Posted By Tom Waddell Sorry to disagree with Martin, but the revised DSE Guidance (published 2003) clearly shows that CCTV monitors are now included within the general range of DSE equipment. Table 1 on page 5/6 of the guidance book clearly defines "security control room operative" as "definite display screen users". I know this as my organisation has recently had lengthy "discussions" with the HSE on the revised guidance. At present, our "discussions" surround the type of eye test which should be carried out, particularly in relation to the distance that said eye test is carried out at. We have been advised that this can only be decided by the optician. Our staff use a wide variety of types of monitor, with viewing distances varying greatly, in some newer installations, there is a low of adjustment available, however older installations tend to be fixed. It is a problem that does not appear to have been thought out at the time of the change of the guidance, however, if anyone has heard of definative guidance re eyetesting, I would like to be advised. Hope this is of help to you.

Posted By Martin Gray Thanks for the update Tom, it look like I will have a fair bit of work to do with 5 CCTV control centres

Posted By John Murgatroyd The radiation emission was out of the side actually...and the case is irrelevant, since the front is glass...and the shadow-mask is perforated. Since the NRPB accepts that there is no safe level of radiation, and that frequent gene damage leads to a dramatic increase in various cancers, you should not be using words like negligible. Maybe you should also look at the stats on xray induced tumours...like an average of 65 women a year contract breast cancer from damage caused by mamograms ? (statistically) CCTV monitors are much less likely to emit xrays...but the chance of them doing so grows when the contast and brightness are run high....fortunately, I don't have a projection tv !! Maybe you ought to start looking at TFT monitors ? Or check that your insurance will pay-out if someone develops cancer and decides to sue ? Since the high level of vacuum within the crt COULD lead to an implosion, with all the risks of flying glass (half an inch thick) in an accident....and that the high voltages within said crt (20 thousand plus) could lead to problems AGAIN if an accident occurs. Still, crts' are cheaper....seems a familiar theme in all H&S discussions...."what's the cheapest safety we can afford" or "will the insurance pay if we kill someone"

Posted By John Murgatroyd We'll have to have a level of disagreement on this. The maintenance of cctv displays has been a bone of contention for some time, since the operators are usually unwilling to have regular maintenance work done, so repair work is usually the order-of-the-day. X rays are generated when electrons (or other charged particles) undergo severe acceleration (or deceleration). This can happen in any electronic device that operates at several kilo-volt or more, which place any display using a crt as a risk factor. TFT displays are low-voltage devices in any case, with potentials being in tens of volts as opposed to tens of thousands of the crt displays.

Posted By Jonathan Breeze Surely this refers to the strife caused between dogs when thrown a bone. The dogs contend with each other over the bone that they have been thrown. Not that I'm inferring that my learned colleagues are dogs.