Implementing the directive for VDU work- the EU-state of the art

Abstract

In order to improve occupational health and safety conditions in the workplace, several national directives and international standards have been defined. In 1990 the European Union (EU) defined such a directive, i.e. a minimal set of ergonomic requirements that should be met at workplaces equipped with Visual Display Units (VDUs). In order to put the directive to work, existing measurements have been reviewed to evaluate how far they support the implementation of the directive. The instrument that should be used finally for checking VDU-workplaces should not hinder the work flow and the organizational development of a company. The instrument should rather support the effective evaluation of all VDU-workplaces according to the directive. The investigations in this paper focus on the analysis of 18 techniques for measurement stemming from different disciplines. The directive addresses several different perspectives including human cognition, organization of work and technical features. However, an absence of comprehensive measurements has been identified. Most of the existing techniques for measurement focus either on users, user interfaces or on organizational issues. In order to support the development of a comprehensive instrument to check the minimal requirements of the EUdirective EU-CON, a technique for evaluation and re-design of VDU-work has been developed.