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Job stress in video display operations.

Smith MJ; Stammerjohn LW; Cohen BGF; Lalich NR

Ergonomic Aspects of Visual Display Terminals, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Milan, Italy, March 1980. London: Taylor and Francis Ltd., 1982 Jan; :201-209

20027372

Much attention has been paid to ergonomic design factors of visual display units (VDU) and their relationship to operator health complaints, but little has been directed to job design factors that may contribute to psychological job stress. Some studies have examined the psychosocial stress aspects of VDU work as secondary aspects of broader ergonomic evaluations. For example, Gunnarsson and Ostberg (1977) found that in situations where operators had little control over their job tasks, the majority complained of monotony, while in situations where the job afforded some variety and control, only a small proportion felt the work was monotonous. Cakir et al. (1978) found that feelings of stress expressed by a group of VOU operators did not differ in magnitude from other worker groups previously examined. Cakir et al. (1979) found differences between hourly paid and piece-rate paid VDU operators in sociability, frame of mind, state of stress, fatigue, and inner security, with the piece-rate operators scoring poorer in all categories. For a different group of VOU operators who previously did clerical work, 60 % complained of monotony even though their present jobs were similar to their previous clerical jobs in task requirements. The results indicated that the jobs reporting the highest levels of monotony also reported the highest levels of fatigue. All these studies have shown that the psychosocial stress aspects of VDU work need to be considered in determining the impact of VOUs on operator health. In the United States over the past few years, complaints about VDUs have been steadily increasing. The initial efforts of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in this area were concerned with evaluating the possible health risks of VDUs regarding ionizing and non-ionizing radiation emissions. Some attention was also given to ergonomic factors including workplace, equipment and job-design features. However, it remained for the current study to offer the first systematic evaluation of psychosocial stress and health complaints of VDU operators in the United States.

Video-display-terminals; Psychological-stress; Psychological-disorders; Psychological-fatigue; Psychological-responses; Psychological-testing; Statistical-analysis; Stress; Ergonomics; Equipment-operators; Occupational-health; Occupational-psychology; Work-environment; Worker-health; Workplace-studies

19820101

Conference/Symposia Proceedings

1982

9780850662115

OD

Ergonomic Aspects of Visual Display Terminals, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Milan, Italy, March 1980

OH