There`s rarely a workplace that doesn`t have at least one photocopier, but often little attention is given to ensuring the safety of this commonplace office equipment.
When photocopiers are purchased usually little attention is given to occupational health and safety standards. A place is found for the machine somewhere away from the main traffic areas and that's it- no more detail is attended to.

For example, noise problems are rarely assessed. Often such a machine produces a constant, repetitive noise to which, at times, is added the noise of collators. All of this may be happening within meters of staff who need to attend to telephone calls, take messages, deal with clients at counters, cope with tricky word processors and who are exposed to the intermittent reflection of bright light from VDU screens.

At other times the machines are placed in small rooms which are the office spaces of workers whose job is largely photocopying and mailing. They in fact share their small office space with very large and imposing machines, which may constantly release contaminants into the air as well as noise and intense light.

Because of the time spent by such workers at the machines, and because of the high level of interaction required (add paper, refill toner, remove various 'jams' and fix failures, etc) a demanding workload is created.

Such demands and requirements increase as the need for copy increases and failures occur. That leads to increased workload and an excessive exposure to occupational stressors.

Too often there is little recognition of this aspect of the work and such workers are given little consideration and support. The only training they get is a once-only introduction to the machines explaining which button does what. No training is given in how to manage the general demand for photocopying from what is often a large and time-pressured staff. These other office staff can completely ignore the workloads on such staff, and often they regard any associated hazards as frivolous.

There are two main areas where problems may exist with photocopiers:

CHEMICAL HAZARDS AND HAZARDS INVOLVING HUMAN FACTORS

CHEMICAL HAZARDS

Most black and white office photocopiers produce a photocopy image on plain paper using a process called xerography. This process depends on the alignment of electrically charged particles (electrostatics) to create an image. Other techniques for producing an image are Liquid Toner Transfer, Dielectric Transfer and the Zinc Oxide Treated Paper.

An electrical image of the original document is recorded on the drum or belt. Very small quantities of the chemical coasting of this part of the machine can be released during normal operation. Tests have shown that even under the worst ventilation conditions the build up of very low levels of these chemicals near the machine does not pose a significant health risk to workers. The chemical coating can be a bigger risk for photocopier repair and service technicians.

We recognise ozone gas as a 'fresh air' smell; you can often smell it after a thunderstorm. The gas is actually a highly reactive form of oxygen. While that means that in the open air it would normally exist only for a short time, it can build up to quite dangerous levels in an enclosed office space.

Even at very low concentrations in air (one part per million parts of air) it can cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat. Higher and longer-term exposure has caused inflammation of tissue and scar tissue formation in the lungs of animals.

Transferring 'toner' onto plain paper in the right amounts and in the right places prints the image. The toner contains carbon black (a chemical like soot). The particles of carbon black come in a coating of plastic. As the copy comes out of the machine the plastic is melted into the paper by heat and/or pressure, so that a black print is fixed onto the paper.

Carbon black has been a cause for concern in the past because of certain chemical impurities which are suspected of being carcinogens (agents which can cause cancer). The suspect chemical is nitropyrene. Most manufacturers now claim to use specially purified carbon black in their toners, and the toners have usually been tested for any indication that they might be capable of causing cancer.

As the plastic in the toner is melted onto the paper, irritating vapours can be produced. The vapours might be un-reacted chemicals left over from the production of the plastic. These chemicals are usually methacrylates or acrylic compounds (plastics). The vapours can cause lung irritation and skin rashes, and in cases of high and regular exposure, they have been known to cause asthma.

Toner dust can also enter the office environment during filling or waste disposal. It is dirty, sticky stuff better left attached to a copy than in your lungs or on your skin.

As well as the toner that ends up fixed to the paper copy, there is waste toner left over from the copying process. Most of it is automatically brushed and vacuumed into a waste container (or in some well-designed machines, it's recycled). Inevitably, some of the waste escapes into the bowels of the machine and can be exhausted into the office air.

Well-designed copiers minimise this release by:

• Recycling toner
• Having 'no contact' filling cartridges
• Having automatic machine shut-off when the waste container is full
• Having disposable sealed waste containers.

In summary, the major chemical hazards presented by photocopiers are:

• Ozone
• Carbonblack
• Plastic fumes
• Toner dust

They can be in the office air near your photocopier and you could breathe them into your lungs. The toner dust might also settle on ledges or on the floor and end up on your hands, in your coffee or in your sandwiches.

Their removal or containment at the source best achieves controlling the chemical hazards. That may mean adequate exhaust ventilation to draw air past you, then past the copier, and then outside- in that order.

You can wear gloves when refilling the machine with toner or when disposing of toner waste. Be careful not to spill any toner.

New machines coming into your office should be well designed. It's preferable to have a no-contact cartridge toner filling system and a recycling system so that there is no toner waste. Insist on having Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDA) for the toner and try to find out if there are any impurities present in the toner.

Special ozone filters when used in the exhaust filters of the machine can help to remove ozone from the exhausted air24.

HUMAN FACTORS

A number of other factors associated with photocopiers may adversely influence the office environment. They include light, heat and noise, and ergonomic factors relating to the physical activities associated with the machine and stress.

- Light
The flashes of light from a photocopier in operation can be more than an annoying disturbance. Very powerful flashes of light are used to illuminate the document being copies so that an electrical recording can be made on the photo-conductor. The idea is a bit like using a flash for photography.

The lamp that is used can produce intense ultraviolet and blue and visible light that can damage the eye, and cause skin rashes. Ultraviolet light is invisible. It can be thought of as a colour of the rainbow that is not seen by the human eye - it would lie beside the blue/violet edge of the rainbow if we could see it.

Because there is a thick glass plate between the lamp and the operator during normal operation, nearly all of the dangers associated with this bright light are removed. The dangerous 'colours' of light are filtered out in a way that is similar to the way sunscreen creams work. Continuous exposure to the bright light can however lead to eye discomfort even though actual damage should not occur.

To protect against skin rashes and damage to the eyes photocopiers should never be operated without the glass document plate in place. To ensure that visual discomfort does not occur, photocopiers should be located away from other work areas, and long periods of operation without the document cover in place should be avoided.

- Noise and Heat
The contribution of photocopier operation to office noise and the thermal environment varies considerably from office to office and between the various makes and models of copier. Excessive noise and heat causes fatigue, distraction and stress.

These factors should be given careful consideration when a copier is introduced into an office. The machine should be located so as to minimise any occupational stressors that can arise from the noise and heat it produces. Photocopiers should not contribute significantly to the normal background office hum.

It's essential that there is good ventilation and adequate air-conditioning to cope with the heat generated by photocopiers. Preferably a separate room should be used.

- Photocopier Related Work
The actual physical and mental work that is performed by people who operate photocopying machines is an area that is all too often neglected. We can be carried away by discussions about the chemical and physical hazards associated with the machine and ignore the work practices that are involved in achieving the final result.

Somebody has to fetch and carry documents or books to the machine. Somebody must know how to set the machine to do its part. In many instances, it is necessary to repeatedly lift and shift and re-adjust copied material and constantly replace often-awkward lids.

And then when the copying is done, there comes collating, 'knocking' and stapling, and finally distribution of the copies. Most of this work is performed while standing and can impose a heavy static load on muscles and joints.

This work is often done in poorly designed environments or opportunistically grabbed rooms or corners and can lead to fatigue, eye irritation and muscle over-load. It can also lead to the isolation of workers form the mainstream of office work.

The introduction of auto-collating copiers, automatic document feeders, high volume paper feeders and numerous other features has lead to the removal of many of the tedious and repetitive aspects of photocopying, but introduced new problems. The variety of functions and multitude of buttons that come with fairly standard modern copiers can be very confusing. This can be remedied by adequate training.

Very often the manuals that explain how to use the machine are even more confusing. Many workers learn how to live with photocopiers instead of learning how to use them. Often copying is done 'the way I know how to do it' rather than in the most efficient and least stressful way.

Training in the effective use of the machinery should be available and operators need to be able to regularly set aside time to become more familiar with all the complexities of the machine.

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