le travail à l'écran de visualisation work with display units

SCIENCE, INDUSTRY, AND LABOR FINDINGSON VDT USE AND WORKER HEALTH AND COMFORTA Cal OSHA Committee ReportWanda Smith, Corporate Human Factors Engineering,Hewlett-Packard, U.S.A.Due to a 1987 state Assembly resolution, the CaliforniaOccupational Safety and Health Standards Board appointed acommittee to study: VDT use and worker health and thenecessity for VDT regulations. The study was completed inApril, 1989.This project is unique because representatives from business,medicine, science and labor worked together to reviewresearch and expert testimony on these topics and develop aseries of joint recommendations. Specifically, the committeemembers consisted of ophthalmologists, optometrists, humanfactors engineers/ergonomists, a psychiatrist, manufacturers,a business manager, an epidemiologist, union members,industrial hygienists, and an occupational physician.The committee studied several topics that are oftenassociated with VDT comfort and health concerns. Theseincluded: vision, musculoskeletal functions, reproduction,stress and fatigue, and the environmental conditions. Theiractivities included attending presentations by scientificexperts on each topic, quest speakers on specific topics,compiling and analyzing reported research, and developing areport summarizing findings and recommendations.The committee was asked to try to reach a consensus withregard to the results of evidence and recommendations. Wherethere was agreement that a problem did exist, the committeemembers were to propose solutions.As a result of this project, and specifically the jointprocess, the committee reached consensus on a number ofconclusions and recommendations. There were also severalareas in which divergent conclusions were reached and thesedemonstrated areas were evidence was inconclusive and moreresearch is needed.The paper to be presented will describe the process of theinvestigation, the findings of the committee on each topic,and the resulting recommendations regarding: regulations,training, and research. The findings of the committee willbe distributed which will include the resulting bibliographyof over one thousand research reports.KEYWORDS :Health, vision, musculoskeletal, reproduction,stress, environmentURINARY CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION IN VDT OPERATORSAdele Belisario, Ambra Modiano, Angela Fantini, Giuseppe Olivetti - Istituto di PatologiaSpec.Medica II e Medicina del Lavoro "D.Campanacci" (Direttore: Prof.G.D 1 Antuono) -Université degli Studi di Bologna - Via Massarenti, 9 - 40138 BOLOGNAThe aim of our study was to identify and evaluate the condition of stress inducedby VDT operation. Our investigation was conducted utilizing those biohumoral parametersmost valid in stress determination: urinary fractioned catecholamines andrespective metabolite excretion (epinephrine, norepinephrine, VMA, DOPA, HVA) aswell as plasma levels of Cortisol, ACTH, NEFA and fructosamine, with samples beingtaken both before and after the work shift.Our study was conducted on 68 VDT operators employed as industry an airport personnel,coMposed of 19 male and 49 female subjects with an average age of 37 years andhaving a range from 24 to 52 years of age. Out of the original sampling populationall subjects under medication or in possession of any pathological condition whichmight have altered the biohumoral parameters were eliminated. The resulting datawas analyzed using the Student's paired t test.The possibility of utilizing a seperate control population was rejected based onthe fact that the normal catecholamine range is extremely vast. Thus, we chose touse each subject as his own control by comparing his basal condition with thatsubsequent to his work shift, in order to achieve a more valid confrontation.We then proceeded to calculate the fractioned catecholamine (basal and after shift)mea:i values as well as the standard deviation and conducted an analysis for eachparameter considered, comparing the basal values with those taken right after thework shift.Futhermore, the data was subdivided and subsequently evaluated based on the numberof hours spent at the VDT. Moreover, the same data was analyzed with respecb tothe different sectors in which the subjects belonged following the same methodologyas cited above.The data collected demonstrated values contained within the normal range however,after statistical analysis, we discovered a significant increase in epinephrine andnorepinephrine levels taken right after the work shift. Likewise, there was aslighter significant increase in the values of DOPA, VMA and NEFA.From this study, two important conditions were observed to have had a significantimpact on the experimental biological parameters under investigation. The firstconcerning the number of hours spent in front of the video terminal and the secondregarding the type of work in which the subject was engaged. The operators exposedto the video teminal for more than four hours a day had catecholamine valuessuperior to those persons having a lesser exposure. It was also found that thoseairport personnel employed in ground control and check-in sectors, which mayrepresent a more stressful situation, presented higher levels of urinary catecholaminesin comparison to fellow airport personnel working in other sectors.KEYWORDS: stress, health, biohumoral parameters, epidemiologyTEV 1989 — DEUXIÈME CONFÉRENCE SCIENTIFIQUE INTERNATIONALE • MONTRÉAL • SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE — WWDU 1989TEV 1989 — DEUXIÈME CONFÉRENCE SCIENTIFIQUE INTERNATIONALE • MONTRÉAL • SECOND INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE — WWDU 1989125