Most projectors used for slide presentations or interactive whiteboards have projection distances large enough for people to stand in front of the beam. Anyone who does this risks exposing their eyes to harmful levels of visible radiation, which can cause damage to their eyesight.
To help prevent this, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommends applying the following guidelines when using projectors.
Guidelines
- Do not look directly into the projector beam.
- Try not to stand in the beam, facing the light source. Keep your back to the beam as much as possible.
- Use a stick or laser pointer to avoid the need to enter the beam to point at things on screen.
- Supervise students to ensure they are not exposed to the beam unnecessarily. Inform them about the risks.
- Try to ensure that projectors are located where they are not in a presenter’s line of sight when they address an audience so that when they look at the audience, they are not looking into the bam. Ceiling-mounts are a good way of achieving this.
- To minimise the lamp power needed to project a visible presentation, use room blinds and/or turn room lights off to reduce ambient light levels.
Recent technological developments in projector and interactive whiteboard design have allowed inherently safer “ultra-short throw” devices to be brought to market. These employ sophisticated optics to enable the projector to be mounted above the display screen and so close to it that it becomes impossible for a user to directly expose their eyes to the beam.
Employers who use these designs therefore do not need to follow the foregoing work procedure guidance because residual eye exposure risks are wholly removed by this type of equipment’s design and construction.
Given that safe work procedures may sometimes be disregarded by users, HSE considers that the improved inherent safety of “ultra-short throw” devices is sufficient reason for employers and organisations to actively consider them as an option when they purchase new or replacement equipment.
If you have any queries on this issue please contact the Health and Safety Service on ext. 4515 or https://staff.shu.ac.uk/healthandsafety/