The Design of Rest Breaks for Video Display Terminal Work: A Review of the Relevant Literature

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chapman JL ; Sauter, Steven L. ; Swanson, Naomi G.
• Description:
  Recent studies have demonstrated a daily accumulation of eye and musculoskeletal strain in video display terminal (VDT) workers which is not eliminated by the use of high quality workstations or conventional rest break schedules (e.g., Zwahlen et al., 1984; Schleifer and Amick, 1988). These types of observations have prompted calls for limitations on the period of continuous VDT work. For example, the Swedish National Board of occupational Safety and Health has suggested an upper limit of 1-2 hours of continuous VDT work. While the logic for such recommendations is substantial, there has been little empirical study of the effects of increased rest breaks, or shortened work periods, in VDT work. There is, however, an extensive literature on the design of rest break schedules in light, repetitive (industrial) work. This literature has been largely ignored in discussions regarding rest break design in VDT work, but is highly relevant since the tasks studied share common stress factors with VDT work (e.g., constrained static postures and the need for continuous attention). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Computers Ergonomics Eye Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs Sense Organs / Injuries
• Keywords:
  Eye-strain Eyes Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Video-display-terminals
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  0850664934
• Publisher:
  Taylor and Francis
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRC - Pittsburgh Research Center
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030822
• Citation:
  Advances in industrial ergonomics and safety I. Mital A, ed., Philadelphia PA: Taylor and Francis, 1989 Jan; 1:895-898
• Editor(s):
  Mital A
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Advances in industrial ergonomics and safety I. Proceedings of the Annual International Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A., 5-9 June 1989. The Official Conference of the International Foundation for Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Research
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0c2802ecacb715d28a9ae4037f10c733ae82e76a8040b3dd4100c9be958f4c8cb2be0b8d03809948b189f83b3aa4c250ebbef2b01cb1c0780b44fcb53c9ea597
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226632/cdc_226632_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 895.28 KB ]