§ Sir S. McAddenasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he is satisfied that the processed link keyboard units used by operators in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Department at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, do not present a health hazard; and whether he will cause an investigation to be made into possible radiation risk from these machines.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe medical adviser to my Department, who keeps in touch with research in this field, advises me that there is no suggestion that cathode ray tube display units give rise to any serious short- or long-term health hazards. He informs me that any fatigue
256WUnited Kingdom since 1947. In column A is shown when it was decided in each case to proceed towards independence and the Independence Day is shown in column B.
that may result from a prolonged session of use of a keyboard unit such as that used by operators in Her Majesty's Customs and Excise Department at Southend-on-Sea is temporary and can be compared with that arising from a similar spell of clerical work. In practice, a trained operator uses the display only intermittently.
The level of radiation emitted by these units is well within the limits of the relevant British Standards Institution standard. My Department will, however, continue to keep itself informed of medical opinion in this field.