Having worked in a computer tech role in a past life I can honestly say that, unless these computers have been sitting for a VERY long time, the amount of dust that accumulates shouldn't pose any real risk.. Not to mention it's going to be fairly static anyway, it won't be getting blown around too much unless they've got a fan pointing directly into the case for some reason.

Providing a small hoover (think the little keyboard vacuums) could be useful to the techs, but not so much for health and safety as general task cleanliness/comfort & component visibility.

My 2c.

-Dave Warby

Quick look in my archives found this little gem...just trying to find the origonal reference..

Computer keyboards are accumulating up to two grams of muck every month, research conducted on behalf of aol uk shows.

The bits collect underneath the keys because users eat breakfast, snacks and lunch over their computer terminals as well as personal grooming done at the terminal also contributes to the build up of grunge.

Keyboard Crumb Breakdown

Corn Flakes (15%)
Boiled Sweet (15%)
Noodles (7%)
Vegetable Pieces (4%)
Pencil Shavings (1%)
Leaf (1%)
Staple (1%)
Finger Nail (<1%)
Tape/Plastic (<1%)
Insect (<1%)
Foil (<1%)
Hair (<1%)
Various Particles Resembling Cereal Grains, Biscuit Crumbs, Bread Crumbs, Pastry Flakes And Chocolate Crumbs (56%)
If the keyboard studied is typical, aol uk estimates that almost 0.318 tonnes of what it called “keyboard krumbs” will accumulate beneath all keyboards over the space of a year.

The reading from the celsis bacterial counter, which measures living micro- organisms, came out at 2,209. the acceptable food hygiene standard figure is between 101 and 501. cornflake, plastic, hair and a lot of dust were found.

Recent readings from an office toilet door and flush were only 826 and 1,091. So you can see which is worse.

Workers today eat at their desks before washing their hands, so the chances are they are putting bacteria in their mouths.

The point I noted in Dave's reply was that the dust is static and it is relatively easy to work without blowing it around i.e. making it airborne. This was also confirmed by the person doing the work. Requirement for hand and work surface cleaning / disinfection following such work is understood. What I was looking for is to see if in that industry (PC maintenance) this is recognized as a risk and whether or not using a small hoovering device would be considered best practice.