Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-80-127-1337, the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland. Report of a Cross-Sectional Survey of Video Display Terminal (VDT) Users at the Baltimore Sun

Details

• Personal Author:
  Halperin, William E. ; Richards RD ; Smith AB ; Tanaka, Shiro
• Description:
  A survey was conducted of video display terminal (VDT) users at the Baltimore Sun Newspaper (SIC-3651), Baltimore, Maryland. An evaluation request came from a representative of the Newspaper Guild, AFL/CIO, representing 283 of the 379 employees surveyed. Each participant answered a questionnaire and received a complete eye examination. The employees were complaining of eye problems such as blurred vision, headaches, backaches, neck pain, and incidences of cataracts. Assessment by factor analysis showed a positive association between: bothersome visual aspects of the VDT and headaches associated with work; changes in eye function; headache with eye irritation, runny nose, sweating, and blurred vision; and muscular pain and stiffness. Lighting characteristics were also associated with muscle pain and stiffness. Eye shifting during VDT operation caused superficial headaches that were unilateral at onset, but spread bilaterally. The authors conclude that the issue of cataracts associated with VDT use was not resolved by their study. Future emphasis should be placed on characteristics of workplace lighting and VDT visual characteristics. Adjustments are required in workplace and terminal design. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Computers Eye Headache Lighting Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs Sense Organs / Injuries Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Video Display Terminals; VDTs; Cataracts; Eye Problems; Headaches; Back And Neck Aches NIOSH-Author; NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation; NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report; HETA-80-127-1337; Hazards-Unconfirmed; Region-3; Newspapers; Fluorescence-spectrometry; Questionnaires; Work-practices; Computer-equipment; Eye-strain; Visual-images; Equipment-design; Lighting-systems; Video Display Terminals; Cross Sectional Studies;
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; 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:
  1-33
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00131976
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-195149
• 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 80-127-1337, 1982 Sep; :1-33
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3651 - Household audio and video equipment - (SIC)
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:87f730d9fa02e6f331a5a48a969396f754915b3b1e6d158987024271e680be4eed394079e4f02456ffacf441922e8d6e2032a3548dbcd76a7d57f3c8228147e1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/233752/cdc_233752_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.35 MB ]