Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 27, 1991                   TAG: 9103270204
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID STREITFELD THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE WAY WE WORK/ COMPUTERS HAVE BROUGHT A HOST OF STRESSFUL CONDITIONS TO THE

Blame the video display terminal, tens of millions of which already are used at businesses across the land. It's a number that will only increase: As more facilities become computerized, more workers will spend more of their time staring at screens. Doing inventory control. Data entry. Processing orders. Library research. Writing speeches or sales plans. Answering mail.

"Within five years, the question will be what jobs do not require a VDT," says Marvin Dainoff, director of the Center for Ergonomic Research at Miami University. "Most of the work force will use one."

Or, as the case may be, misuse one. As typewriters began to be replaced by VDTs during the '80s, the percentage of occupational illnesses associated with repeated trauma rose from 18 percent to slightly over half. The pace, moreover, is picking up. Between '88 and '89, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the total number of occupational illnesses jumped by 43,000. Seventy percent of that surge came from trauma.

But is there actually more trauma - which includes tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome (a particularly bad form of wrist injury), and assorted other trouble in your elbows, wrists, arms and neck - or are people just noticing it more? Beyond the statistics, it's hard to come by reliable information on the extent and seriousness of repetitive stress injuries. No one even seems to know the percentage of people at risk - those who use a VDT for a substantial percentage of their workday.

"This isn't as serious as asbestos and lung cancer, but it can be disabling," says Laura Welch, director of the George Washington University School of Medicine's Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Furthermore, the VDT is becoming such an integral part of some jobs that it's hard for those with repetitive stress injuries to switch to lighter duties. "If they're not typing," says Welch, "there's nothing to do. I see patients who I don't know what to tell them to do for employment."

RSI is not limited to VDT users, of course. A recent study showed a high incidence of hand pain among grocery clerks who were constantly flicking items across an electronic scanner. Welch's patients have ranged from directory-assistance operators to library catalogers to a construction worker. But it's the VDT users who are the growth business, and who also have the added attention of legislative interest.

Three months ago, San Francisco became the first city to set rules for workplace VDT usage. Getting the measure passed involved a lengthy battle with employers and the Chamber of Commerce, who succeeded in having it significantly weakened through the removal of clauses such as the one about having work stations at least five feet apart, to minimize any possible radiation hazards.

In the final version, businesses with more than 15 employees will be required to provide adjustable chairs and terminals, detachable keyboards, armrests and footrests upon request, proper lighting and, every two hours, a 15-minute break - not necessarily from work, just from typing.

The problem, says Carol Piasente, a member of the Chamber of Commerce-Business VDT Task Force, was that "a lot of the large companies here already have programs under way - purchasing new kinds of equipment, starting training programs. They felt they were dealing with the issues, and the legislation was unnecessary." A voluntary task force was asked for instead.

When that point came up in the hearings, responds Supervisor Angela Alioto, "I said if you did this stuff voluntarily, we wouldn't be sitting here." She estimates 90 percent of the affected firms were not in compliance when the law took effect, and dismisses the possibility that any will carry through on their threats to vacate the city. "If you lived in San Francisco, would you leave?"

Whether the measure will be replicated elsewhere is unclear. A similar law in Suffolk County, N.Y., has gotten tangled up in court. VDT News editor Louis Slesin believes further action "depends on whether local unions target this as a high priority. If they don't, it won't happen, because industry fights this tooth and nail." He adds, "I don't think the San Francisco law is draconian in any measure. Can you imagine working for two hours and not taking a break? And if you spend 10 years working somewhere, wouldn't you want a decent work station?"

The Center for Ergonomic Research's Dainoff believes a little more movement in this area will quickly produce a lot. "Once you have two communities in the same state with different regulations, there's going to be a call for a national standard," he says. To that end, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recently been making noises about developing mandatory ergonomic rules.