Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Too much shedworking is bad for you

An excellent piece by Christopher Wanjek at LiveScience suggest that the risks of homeworking are often overlooked. His list of problems includes poor ergonomics, straightforward overworking, injuries from household hazards, seclusion from people and tech support and this one which is one shedworkers should take particular notice of:
"Thousands of fires each year begin in the home office for a variety of reasons, according to data from the National Fire Incident Reporting System. A primary cause is overtaxed electrical systems, as telecommuters jam the electrical chords for fax, printer, computer, lamp and space heater into a single socket. If Christmas tree lights can cause a short, imagine what office equipment can do."
Well worth a read.

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:28 PM

    Over at workshopshed I've been looking at some of the issues associated with the use of chemicals in the workshop. Althought it's targeted at model engineers it would also apply to others using chemicals as part of their shedwork such as artists, potters, gardeners and people who store petrol driven tools or cleaning equipment in their office.

    On the topic of fires, heating equipment can be an obvious cause at this time of year. Drying your socks over the heater or having a gas leak can be the start of something serious. Boilers and heaters need regular servicing by a registered service engineer.

    Badly ventilated offices with heaters can also generate carbon monoxide which is a silent killer.

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  2. Having now heard of the second friend of a friend who has managed to burn down their house by leaving a mobile phone charger plugged in, I now switch off all transformers of any kind before leaving the building.

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  3. Emma, were they recharging their iphones?

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  4. yeah, in fact probably now I think about it they deserved it

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