Last week's High Court award of over u£660,000 (€838,000) to a radiographer who received static shock from a laser should alert employers and workers to the potential dangers of static electricity in the workplace.

The court was told that radiographer Ms Patricia Gilna would probably not work again because of injuries caused after receiving a static electric shock from a laser machine in Beaumont Hospital on June 21st, 1993.

Ms Gilna claimed she received a shock on picking up one of the films from a recently supplied laser processor. She said she was thrown back by the shock, hallucinated, stumbled and was severely shaken.

Mr Justice Johnson found that the accident was caused by a static electrical charge.

Although the processor may have been a rogue machine, it did not have an anti-static brush fitted when it was supplied to the hospital on June 14th, 1993. It gave out electro-static shocks and continued to do so after it was subsequently (incorrectly) fitted or partially fitted with an electro-static brush. It ceased giving out static shocks when a proper electro-static brush or anti-static brush and full kit was fitted.

A recent 12-minute video, Controlling the Risk from Static Electricity, could play a valuable role in making managers and workers aware of the dangers of static electricity in the workplace, particularly in industries involved with flammable products or materials. It says that because of the flammable nature of many of the products handled in industry, static electricity can be as dangerous a hazard as any other source of ignition.

The video explains what static electricity is, why it can be dangerous and how to control it. While limited due to time constraints on the working environments, activities and operations it can show, the general principles it explains are true for static electricity in any workplace.

Static electricity is created when "certain dissimilar materials are in contact causing friction. One accumulates a positive charge, the other a negative charge; a condition from which they try to recombine to achieve their neutral state", it says.

The video shows that a static electrical shock can ignite flammable materials as surely as could a match. Moreover, because you cannot see static electricity, it is easier not to be aware of the imminent risk of shock, ignition or explosion.

It shows that just as static electricity can give you a shock when you touch your car door, take off your clothes or brush your hair, so too it can be generated by the movement of materials through pipes in the workplace - whether by pumping, loading, mixing, filtering or agitating.

The video explains the many and varied industries which ought to be concerned about static electricity. "Static is created when water settles through oil. Or when liquids are being stripped. It occurs when solids or powder dissolve in a liquid. The flow of material when grit blasting can leave the hose nozzle and blasting equipment highly charged. Work gases such as steam and high pressure water can cause very high levels of static."

It explains that even a nylon rope being fed through a gloved hand can generate static electricity or the seemingly hazard-free activity of filling a small barrel can generate a spontaneous spark if the barrel is not earthed.

The video shows ways to control static electricity and prevent its sometimes catastrophic consequences. Workers should:

earth equipment;

avoid splash filling;

begin loading slowly;

wait until the "relaxation time" has expired, which can be up to an hour after static has built up;

don't remove clothing in the presence of flammable materials;

wear anti-static shoes in high-risk areas;

keep to recognised operating procedures;

use only approved equipment, such as sampling containers that are dipped into flammable liquids;

pens or similar items should not be worn in outside breast pockets because if these fall into flammable liquids they could generate a spark and explosion;

work areas must be kept clean and oil-free to dissipate static electricity from worker's bodies;

all flammable liquids should be treated as equally dangerous.

The video comes with an adaptable 30-minute trainer's session plan, so trainers don't need to start from scratch on deciding how to use the video, and an accompanying leaflet summarising the key points.

Controlling the Risk from Static Electricity u247) is available from TVA (Training Video Associates), Claro Court Business Centre, Claro Road, Harrogate, HG1 4BA, England. Telephone: 0044 1423 531727. Fax: 0044 1423 567727.