Health and Safety at work act (1974)
This legislation makes sure that all people at work have a safe working environment and that employer’s make there workers aware of the safety issues including:
- fire exits must be kept clear
- fire doors must be kept shut
- any obstacles must be positions so there is no danger of tripping over
- plug sockets can not be overload and paper quantities must be kept to a minimum to prevent risk of fire
- all lifting must be done properly to reduce risk of back injury
Health and safety regulations (1992)
This legislation covers any injury that may occur using a VDU (visual display unit) including:
- eye strain
- RSI and backache
- Stress
It also insure that employers provide eye tests and glasses (if needed), provide health and safety training, allow breaks and inspect work stations to ensure there are no risk or safety problems.
Computer misuse act (1990)
As the use of the internet and local Area Networks (LAN) have become more wide spread it has become more easily available for people to access information that is not theirs and it is easier for people to make and send viruses to deliberately damage files and data also it is now easy for people to hack into other peoples computers to access personal information. The computer misuse act protects people from things such as this to try and eliminate things like software piracy and fraud.
Internet Code of Practice (ICOP)
As the internet is not owned by anyone certain guidelines are difficult to enforce but these guidelines to try to make sure that:
- Any offensive material should have a warning
- Personal details can not be given out
- Advertising should be truthful
- Links to other sites should be checked
ISP’s must enforces these rules with there subscribers but this can be difficult to control as ISP don’t check every site that their subscribers go on so people such as home uses can disregard any of the rules and do there own thing on the internet.
These new ICT laws help people in many different ways for many different reasons.
The data protection act helps me keep my information safe because the school has all my details ranging from my phone number and address to my doctor details and my emergency contact info. With out the data protection act anybody could have access to my information. The data protection act also helps people using Wi-fi hotspots (like the one in maidenhead). Even if people set up ‘evil twins’ and collect other peoples information they can be prosecuted as this is now illegal.
The computer misuse act helps to keeps files and data free from virus and stop other people from access information that is not theirs. This law applies to my schools’ local area network. Although this law does not stop people from creating viruses and worms to deliberately damage or collect data it does act as a deterrent for people that would not want to go to jail or have a criminal record.
Christopher Reeves web site had to follow the internet code of practise to protect people from offensive material and so there details were not given out. The data protection act keeps peoples information safe when they donate money but it could not protect from hackers potentially accessing information about donators so the donation part of the site is secured and a little padlock appears in the status bar at the bottom right of the screen to show this. This means that any information sent between the donator and the charity is encrypted using a 32 bit encryption so any hackers can to get hold of any information.
Health and Safety act protect my grandma form any injuries at work and if she is injured she can sue the company and get compensation. The law ensures that all employers issue employees with appropriate equipment for my grandma this includes comfortable chairs with adjustable height, wrist pads, screen filter and optician appointment.