Mice go dirty dancing on keyboards

May 18, 2010

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is highlighting the problem of office mice who press on computer keys so they can reach food crumbs.

To bring attention to such nastiness the RSC is organising a competition to identify the filthiest keyboards in the country.

Paul Gallagher, RSC spokesperson, said: "We are asking office workers to take shots of offensive keyboards and workstations and to email them to us at the RSC. We will give £300 to the sender of the most awful image. However, we will not entertain any shots that smack of contrivance and will ask for a witness to the keyboard dirtiness.

"We do not need the names of the organisations at which the shots were taken and will not publish any identification of the place or the sender. Therefore we ask that shots do not have anything in them which might betray confidential information or identify the users or their employers."

The society, which has a keyboard, monitor and telephone handset hygiene policy, says that office hygiene is as important as domestic hygiene.

They quote a cleaning company who told them: "One example was a lady at one our client firms. She wondered why, given that she did not eat bread at her desk, seeds were coming out of the qwertyuiop line in particular when she struck the keys. But investigations showed them to be droppings.

"There is evidence that in buildings with mice, the little tinkers like to run along the keys and press down on them to get at the food crumbs left by people snacking while working.

"That is why it is so important to wash your hands before you eat food. Mice can go to some unpleasant places."

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