| Another peril to be added to the innocent looking | | | | submerged into a bath of chemicals that kills any |
| office environment, to go with repetitive stress | | | | bacteria, the businesses found that they had less |
| syndrome, you can now add upset stomachs and | | | | people off sick since implementing this cleaning |
| vomiting. | | | | regime. |
| It has been independently investigated by | | | | You are right in thinking, that you cannot (nor |
| microbiologists, who examined 33 keyboards and | | | | should you) put a normal keyboard into any liquid! |
| found a wide range of bugs including E Coli, and S. | | | | The sealed keyboards are sealed to IP68 or |
| aeureus, which makes people ill. | | | | NEMA4, this is a waterproof standard in Europe |
| The microbiologists swabbed a public toilet and the | | | | and the USA. And prevents and liquid entering the |
| majority of the keyboards had higher bacterial | | | | keyboard. |
| content, 1 keyboard in particular had 5 X more | | | | The normal applications for these keyboards is in |
| bacteria than the toilet swabs. Four further | | | | food process areas, so at the end of the shift, |
| keyboards had high levels of coliform bacteria, | | | | the production area is washed down with high |
| that are linked to fetal matter. | | | | powered pressure jets, killing any bugs or |
| The main problem, is that people are working | | | | bacteria. The keyboards come in both PS2 and |
| more and spending more time at their desks, | | | | USB and plug straight into a standard computer. |
| some even have lunch their…when the | | | | Mice can also be as dirty, the other option is a |
| crumbs lodge between the keys of the keyboard, | | | | sealed unit, called a trackball, this is a small |
| bacteria grow rapidly, this is the ideal environment. | | | | neoprene ball that when pressed down and |
| One of the simplest ways to rid the keyboard of | | | | rotated, moves the curser on the screen, just like |
| bacteria is to tip the bits out and clean it with a | | | | a mouse, the only difference being, the trackball |
| wet wipe every week. | | | | cannot trap dirt or bacteria. Many Industrial |
| Several companies are now using flexible sealed | | | | keyboards have these fitted as standard. |
| keyboards, so that every fortnight, they are | | | | |