S P E C IA L
REPORT
S P E C IA L
REPORT
America’s fastest growing occupational hazard
Joanne is a clerical assistant. Her
story is one that is becoming com
monplace in offices across the
country.
“ Shortly after beginning my job
working at a terminal (video display
terminal) I began to have eye strain.
But I'm not one to complain much,
so I didn’t say anything. After six
months though, my vision was ter
ribly blurred. It got so that I couldn't
look from the (VDT) screen to my
paper.
“ I got glasses and that cleared up
my blurred vision, but I still have
sore eyes and headaches by the end
of the day."
Andrea is an adm inistrative
assistant. She too spends most of
her day working at a VDT.
"The stress from working at one
of these machines really builds up
— bigger workloads, backaches and
daily eye strain.” She adds, “ I used
to see street signs clearly from a
great distance; now when I drive
home after work all the street signs
are fuzzy."
Lynda, another clerical assistant,
tells of similar problems.
“ Every day that I work my eyes are
sore by noon. By evening, my eyes
are watering and I have a headache
— not just sometimes, but every
night after work. I know ft's (caused
by) the VDT's, because I don’t have
eye problems or headaches on
weekends.
“ One thing that really bugs me is
that we hdve to keep the lights down
low now, when I get home from work
— when they're brighter, like we
used to have them, they hurt my
eyes.”
Video display terminals (VDTs),
are revolutionizing offices across
America. By greatly increasing the
speed and capacity for information
storage and retrieval; and by
significantly reducing the need for
paper, pens and files; productivity is
increased tremendously when these'
Possible
solutions
The first step towards a safe
and healthful workplace for VDT
operators is taken when workers
decide to learn how to recognize
and evaluate hazards. The second
step is then to do something about
those hazards.
Here are a few suggestions from
health specialists concerning the
major problems VDT operators
must deal with.
EYE FATIGUE
One excellent administrative
control for preventing eye strain is
to provide VDT operators with a
15-minute break every hour or a
30-minute break every two hours.
This gives operators a chance to
rest their eyes by viewing at
greater distances.
Rest periods should be taken
away from the machines and oper
ators should perform simple body
and eye exercises.
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machines (also known as CRTs) are
installed.
But as has been the case with
many other technological advances,
their introduction into the work
place has progressed much faster
than research and standards for
health and safety.
Even though there is no standard
in the Occupational Health and
Safety Act that applies to hazairds of
working with VDTs, complaints are
being heard from all parts o f the
country. Here are some of the most
common:
► Soreness, redness, stinging, it
ching, irritation and general discom
fort of the eyes;
► Loss of visual acuity — including
blurred and double images, and im
ages that are fuzzy or that have col
ored edges;
► Problems with eyeglasses and
contact Jenses;
► Headaches — including m i
graines and dull continuous aches
above the eyes;
► Pains in the neck and lower and
upper back;
► Nausea;
► Dizziness; and
► Increased sense of stress, ir
ritability and anxiety.
Added to th is is a less
widespread, but potentially more
worrisome concern about exposure
to low-level x-ray and microwave
radiation and radio frequencies
which may damage genes.
“ A definite hazard does exist,”
says David LeGrande, a safety ad
visor for the Com m unications
Workers of America. “ I see it (VDT
Safety) becoming one of the most
significant bargaining issues of the
future for unions that represent
w o rk e rs w ho o p e ra te th e s e
machines."
The National Institute for Occupa
tional Safety and Health (NIOSH) is
the first federal agency to confirm
that health hazards do exist. In a
Another good administrative
control for eye strain is for
operators to alternate an hour of
screen work with an hour of
another kind of work that allows
viewing from greater distances
and greater body movement.
GLARE
VDT machines should be
equipped with non-reflective glass
screens to minimize glare on the
screen. Special clip-on glass
screens are available for some
machines. Plastic covers that
reduce glare should be avoided,
because they reduce image clari
ty-
Screen glare can also be pre
vented by installing blinds or awn
in g s on n e a rb y w in d o w s ,
relocating machines for better
light exposure, relocating lighting
fixtures, installation of indirect
lighting or eliminating or dimming
overhead lighting (however, care
must be taken to not make printed
copy difficult to read).
Some operators have invented
successful home-made solutions
to the glare problem, such as card
W ARNING:
WORKING
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T H IS MACHINE MAY CAUSE
EYE
PROBLEM S.
HEADACHES•
POSTURAL PROBLEMS .
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study conducted at Blue Shield of
California and three newspapers, it
found significantly higher levels of
blurred vision, color perception dif
ficulties, sore shoulders, numbness,
anxiety, irritability, depression and
exhaustion than in control groups.
Government standards for ma
chine manufacture, maintenance
and operation are expected to be
released for public comment th it
year, according to a NIOSV.
spokesperson.
The most common problem!
associated with VDTs are the result
of a number of often interrelated
factors.
A major cause of eye strain is
fatigue of the muscles in the eye; in
cluding the oculomotor muscles
(which move the eyes from side to
side and up and down), the iris
muscles (which adjust the size of
the pupil to varying light intensity),
and the ciliary muscles (which com
press the eye lens for clear focusing
at close distances).
board visors above the screen.
CONTRAST GLARE
Contrast glare (caused by a view
ing screen against a background
that is too bright), can be reduced
or eliminated by dimming light
sources, changing the location of
the machine, painting or covering
the facing wall in a color or texture
that reflects fess light or installing
a non-reflective partition behind
the machine.
Wearing sunglasses is a poor
solution to the problem, because
their use can lead to other eye pro
blems.
SCREEN SIZE AND COLOR
It is best to have a screen that is
at least 7x9 inches, at a viewing
distance of more than two feet
Character height should be a
least 3/16 of an inch.
Research has not yet estat
lished the best colors for screen;
and characters, and different opei
ators show different preferences
However, the colors generall
recommended are a very daf
l . v
aw
All three sets of muscles get ab
normally strained use when a per
son must view a VDT screen for
seven or more hours a day.
Another significant contributor to
eye strain, as well as to neck and
back pains is glare on the VDT
screen. This is produced by light
from windows, shiny work surfaces,
lighting that is too bright or that is
incorrectly positioned in relation to
the machines, or a background (in
re la tio n to the term in al) th a t is to o
bright.
To compensate, operators often
lower their heads to block the offen
sive light and raise their eyes in
order to look at the screen. This can
cause neck and back problems. In
addition, the iris muscles are put
under an abnormal strain.
Lack of image clarity, flickering
images and a constant high-pitched
whine — three mechanical condi
tions found in most terminals —
have also been associated with
stress, anxiety, irritability and eye
green screen with light green or
yellow characters, or a black
screen with white characters.
CORRECTIVE LENSES
Operators who wear corrective
lenses should inform their eye
doctors that they work on VDTs.
There are two reasons.
First, operators who use bifocal
lenses must lean forward, be
cause these lenses are designed
for reading at a distance of 12 in
ches. Operators who need glasses
for reading should be fitted with
special lenses for use at VDT
machines.
Second, because of increased
eye strain, persons with corrective
lenses of any type usually need to
have their prescription changed
more than normal.
It is recommended that VDT
operators have eye exams before
starting their jobs and subsequent
exams every six months. These ex
ams should be paid for by the
employer and under no c ir
cumstances should they be used
in hiring or job-perform ance
evaluations.
strain.
Another'cause of eye strain and
postural problems are small viewing
screens. To save money and space,
many machines have small screens.
In order to squeeze the same
amount of information onto these
screens as are put onto large ones,
character size is reduced. At normal
viewing distances, these smaller
characters are difficult to read. Eye
strain results, causing the operator
to lean forward to compensate.
Beside eye strain and postural
problems numerous other condi
tions combine to make VDT opera
tion stressful work. These include
noise, job pressures, overcrowded
workspaces and supervisors who
are either uninformed or unsym-
pathetc to problems encountered by
VDT operators.
Operators alm ost universally
state that while their overall produc
tivity has increased, their efficiency
slowly deteriorates each day as job
pressures from* supervisors and
other employes increases.
VDTs also produce heat and
noise (especially when they are
used in conjunction with word-
processing machines). Both add to
overall stress.
Stress is a particular problem in
overcrowded offices and in offices
where machines are poorly posi
tioned. One researcher has found
that as the number of machines in
an office increases, operators
sometimes become even more
alienated from their jobs than
assembly-line workers.
Working on VDTs is demanding
— it often requires intense concen
tration and is psychologically tax
ing. One state office worker likened
working on a VDT to sitting in front
of your television set watching
movie credits for seven-and-a-half
hours a day.'
All of these factors, and many
others, multiply each other’s effect.
POSTURE
Sitting in a fixed position for a
long time, is tiring and has been
linked to muscle strain, varicose
veins and hemmorhoids. This is
particularly true of VDT operators,
who hold a constant head, neck,
body and eye position. However,
some working postures are less
fatiguing than others.
The most comfortable position
is to sit facing the keyboard, lean
ing slightly back so the back of the
chair supports the middle of the
back, and with the eyes looking
slightly downward. To accom
modate this position, the height
and angle of the screen, as well as
the height of the back support of
the chair, should be adjustable to
fit operators’ different heights and
preferred viewing angles.
MACHINE MAINTENANCE
It is essential that VDTs be
checked by a qualified technician
at least twice a year in order to
reduce image blurring and possi
ble radiation emission. Periodic
replacement of the cathode ray
tube is also necessary.'
y
Physical fatigue makes people tired
and irritable, which in turn makes
stresses more difficult to tolerate.
Potentially the most dangerous
problems though, are those associ
ated with radiation.
VDT manufacturers contend that
machine parts that produce radia
tion are effectively shielded and
point to industry and government
studies showing that radiation does
not escape at levels that endanger
operators dr nearby workers.
But these te sts have been
challenged by unions and indepen
dent health specialists because
most machines have not been
tested and in the tests that were
conducted, measurements for some
radiation frequencies were not in
cluded.
The most startling evidence to
date though, involves operators in
the classified advertising section of
the Toronto Star. Last summer, four
women who worked full-time on
VDTs had babies with birth defects.
By contrast, none of the 10 other
saleswomen with children born be
tween May 1979 and May 1980 had
worked as intensively on VDTs.
An investigation by the provincial
government couldn’t detect any
measurable radiation from the
paper’s 294 terminals.
However, one employe told the
Wall Street Journal that she re
m ains d o u b tfu l.
“ None of those machines give off
enough radiation at a time to harm,
but I wonder about the cumulative
effects of the radiation,” said Kathy
Howlings, whose son was born with
a nearly fatal heart defect. Citing
the fact that asbestos workers
didn’t develop a serious lung condi
tion called asbestosis for years
after exposure at work, she added,
“ It just seems like we’re going to be
the asbestosis people of the
future.”
A fu ll record of m achine
maintenance should be kept and
workers should have access to the
maintenance log.
RADIATION
Some of the adminsitrative con
trols useful in protecting against,
eye strain, such as alternating
periods on the machine and peri
ods doing other work, would also
reduce possible exposure to radia
tion.
Machines should be spaced so
that operators are not sitting near
other machinés, since whatever
radiation exposure there is will be
multiplied by the number of nearby
machines. Exposure decreases
when the machine is farther away.
Issuing lead aprons to operators
who request them is an idea of
dubious value, since the head and
eyes would remain unprotected
and the apron could cause dis
comfort and postural problems.
Suggestions that manufactur
ers be required to install lead
layers, similar to those already
mandatory in television sets, may
have considerable value.
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