Health Hazards of Visual Display Units with Particular Reference to Office Environments

摘要

The interaction of man and the visual display unit (VDU) takes place during each of three major tasks, which between them may make up the greater part of the job of the worker. Firstly, the worker may be on a telephone unit in a customer service department answering questions and retrieving information filed in the computer's memory. Secondly, he may be entering data directly into a computer memory by utilizing the keyboard system or the card entry system. Thirdly, he may be checking data on the computer against other data he has in non-display form. All of these tasks require concentration on the display screens for long periods of time. The occupational health effects of VDUs derive primarily from the effects of long exposure of the worker to the light, reflection, glare and flickering of the CRT screen. The majority of problems therefore tend to be perceptual and the precipitating causes tend to be multiple and interactive. This report attempts to summarize these and other ergonomic problems of the VDU operator, and provide short, practical recommendations for the installation of VDUs in a clerical environment. A bibliography is provided for further reading.