Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-83-463-1642: EPA; Cincinnati, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cahill, Linda M. ; Cohen, Barbara G. ; Smith, Michael J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  A health hazard evaluation at an Environmental Research Center of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (SIC-9190), Cincinnati, Ohio in October 1983 and June 1985 was conducted. The evaluation was requested by the EPA because of complaints of blurred vision, headache, and neck and backaches in employees who used video display terminals (VDT). An ergonomic evaluation of the VDT workstations was performed. Seventy-six employees who used VDTs were interviewed. Seventy three percent of the VDT keyboards had illumination levels that exceeded recommended values. Forty three percent of the copy holders and 75 percent of the desk surfaces had excessive illumination. Thirty six percent of the workstations had keyboard heights above the recommended range. Most of the chairs could not be adjusted. At least 75 percent of the workers reported tearing and burning eyes, eye strain, headaches, back, shoulder and neck pain, and fatigue. Verbal recommendations were given after the 1983 evaluation. The 1985 follow-up found improvements such as adjustable chairs, wrist and footrests, and adjustable tilt screens. The authors conclude that worker health complaints can be attributed to VDT use. Recommendations include eliminating or substantially reducing glare on VDT screens and bringing lighting levels within recommended values.
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Eye Hazardous Substances Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs
• Keywords:
  Environmental-engineering Federal Government Hazards-Confirmed Health-hazards Health Complaints HETA-83-463-1642 Job Stress NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 5 Sensory-perceptual-disorders VDT Video Display Terminal Visual-motor-performance

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA834631642
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  34 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Ostberg, Olov ; Dainoff, Marvin ; Hicks, Kathy ; Kidd, Connie L. ; Orr, Mary
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00157548
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-206059
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 83-463-1642, 1985 Dec ; :1-33
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1986
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9199 - General government, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a53ffbdbd15b172cbc1ac83fba6a42fb2b0b08b605b032e95694d8935f993dd87a775470d2eb3db25cadc1e05dd8e6626011760b71488f4e0d01f4f0379ede58
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172249/cdc_172249_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.28 MB ]