HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04171990 - IO.1 r ..
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
G� Contra
FROM: Costa
` INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa
DATE: April 9, 1990 County
SUBJECT: REPORT ON VIDEO DISPLAY GUIDELINES FOR COUNTY EMPLOYEES AND
RELATED ISSUES
SPECIFIC REQUEST($)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Adopt the attached Video Display Terminal (VDT) guidelines
for County employees and direct the County Administrator to
forward these guidelines to all county departments,
including Board-governed fire districts and insure that they
are implemented.
2. Adopt a position of SUPPORT for AB 2744 (Margolin) which
would require the State Department of Health Services to
establish an occupational ergonomics program which would
collect and analyze information on occupational
musculoskeletal disorders, conduct investigations to
identify risk factors for work-related cumulative trauma
disorders and disseminate reliable information to employers
and workers on the causes and prevention of these disorders
and request the County Administrator to make the Board' s
support of AB 2744 known to Assemblyman Margolin, the State
Department of Health Services and this County' s legislative
delegation.
3. Request the Director of Personnel to publicize in County
employee newsletters the availability of the Occupational
Health Clinic operated by the Health Services Department
both in Richmond and in Martinez.
4. Request the Director of Personnel to furnish the report from
the Public Health Director to all members of the VDT Task
Force.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:Yes YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURErSj, SUNNE WRIGHT McPEAK 7-OM POWERS
ACTION OF BOARD ON_ Apr i l 17, 19 A 0 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS{ABSENT I I r =I ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: County Administrator ATTESTED f7 / 9�
Director of Personnel PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Risk Manager CountyageCounsel SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Health Services Director
Director of Public Health �� �
M382 (10/88) Dr. Ruth Lowengart BY OaA�_� ILI, DEPUTY
1.
5. Request the County Administrator to furnish the County
employee VDT guidelines to the State Occupational Safety and
Health Standards Board and request an update from the Board
on what steps they plan to take to adopt statewide VDT
safety standards.
6. Request the Director of Personnel to provide a further
report to our Committee on August 27, 1990 on the work of
the public/private sector VDT safety standards Task Force
which is attempting to prepare voluntary guidelines which
private sector employers can be encouraged to follow and
request the County Administrator to share with our Committee
on August 27, 1990 any responses which have been received
from the State Occupational Safety and Health Standards
Board.
7. Remove as referrals to our Committee those portions of the
December 19 , 1989 VDT referral which relate to guidelines
for County employees and to the outline of a protocol for
further studies to determine the extent to which operating a
VDT without proper safety equipment can cause various
physical conditions.
BACKGROUND:
on December 19 , 1989 the Board of Supervisors referred to our
Committee various items relating to the need for VDT guidelines
for County employees and the need for voluntary VDT guidelines
for private sector employers. On April 9 , 1990 our Committee met
with staff from the Personnel Department, Risk Management, Health
Services Department, County Counsel' s Office and several employee
organizations. We received and reviewed the attached reports
from Dr. Ruth Lowengart and from the Director of Personnel. I
great deal of cooperative work has been done to update and
improve the VDT safety guidelines for County employees. They
have been approved by all parties and our Committee would like
the Board of Supervisors to approve these guidelines so the
County Administrator can distribute them to all County
departments, including the fire districts, and insure that they
are fully implemented as quickly as possible. The guidelines
include training for employees and their supervisors which will
be conducted in a phased program over the next year. The
guidelines themselves, however, can be implemented immediately.
Dr. Lowengart also advised us that the Occupational Health Clinic
she operates in Richmond on Monday mornings is available to any
individual who works or lives in Contra Costa County. Dr.
Lowengart encouraged any individual who believes he or she has an
occupational health problem to call the clinic for an
appointment. In addition, there is an Occupational Health Clinic
conducted at Merrithew Memorial Hospital in Martinez for County
employees only. This clinic has not been well publicized and we,
therefore, want to insure that all employee organizations and
individual employees are aware of the availability of this
clinic.
We understand that the State Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board will' be considering statewide VDT guidelines
again in July. In addition, the Personnel Department is
continuing to meet with private sector employers in an effort to
formulate voluntary VDT safety guidelines which private sector
employers can implement. We are asking for a further report on
both of these subjects in August and will make a further report
to the Board of Supervisors after considering those reports.
Contra Personnel Department
Costa Administration Bldg.
651 Pine Street
County Martinez, California 94553-1292
DATE: April 5, 1990
TO: Internal Operations Committee
FROM: Harry Cisterman, Director of Personnel..
SUBJECT: Progress Report on the Internal and External VDT Committees
The County's Internal VDT Guideline Committee completed a draft of the Internal
VDT Guidelines at the December 6, 1989 meeting. In order to utilize resources
offered by Chevron, AT&T, PG&E, PacBell and other members of the Private Sector
VDT Committee, two subsequent meetings were held.
On February 14, 1990, the following Internal Committee members toured Chevron's
data processing, credit card, and training units in Concord:
Mary Majalca AFSCME, Local 512
Dr- Ruth Lowengart Health Services, Occupational Health
John Fallon Data Processing
Chuck Bock County Clerk-Recorder
Marinelle Thompson Data Processing
Debbie Nejedlo Ergonomic Coordinator, Personnel
Romie Totman Personnel
Lori Koch Personnel
Michael Dunne Representing the small business members of the
Concord Chamber of Commerce also attended.
On March 15, 1990, the Internal VDT Committee met to incorporate ideas from the
Chevron tour and other VDT information acquired from AT&T, Chevron, PG&E etc. . ,
into the County Internal Guidelines.
Following the December 6, 1989 meeting, Mr. Jerry McCafferty of Glare/Free
Coatings International installed a non-.glare film to several computer display
screens. The results of this test study was discussed by the committee.
The committee also reviewed the following collected training material :
- Health and Safety of VDF Operators (Dr. Lowengart's Outline)
- Video Display Terminals (Poison Control Center)
- Video Display terminals. . . the Human Factor (MSC)
- Working Safely with Video Display Terminals (OSHA)
- Working with Displays: A Practical Guide for VDT Users
(Center for Office Technology)
- Employee & VD7-s: Finding a Comfortable Fit (CSEAP)
Working with VD*Is: The Hurrah Interface (Krames)
The Video Display lerminai and You (Coastal Video)
E.
Internal Operations Committee Page 3 April 5, 1990
A three part end product was envisioned by the committee. The first part. will
incorporate the County's . Internal VDT Guidelines with revisions and additions
recommended by the committee. The second part will consist of a stipulation of
resources and the third part will be the development of workshops. All three
parts will be designed to serve as resources for small and large businesses in
Contra Costa County.
HDC:RT
Attachments
� .
. /
'
B. Health Services Department '
l' Employee Occupational Health Program: The Employee.
Occupational Health Program will provide technical advice
and training regarding health and safety of VDT operators.
They will provide on-siteevaluation of workstations and
make recommendations for modifications if requested by the
department. They will provide medical examinations of
operators who experience adverse health effects related to
VDT's if requested by the department or Risk Management'
2, Environmental Health Division: Environmental Health will
provide technical advice and work place monitoring regarding
illumination, noise, or chemical or radiation hazards in the
work place.
C. General Services Department: Purchasing Division will receive
requisitions for VDT equipment and furniture and determine the
lowest priced vendors which meet the specifications of this
Administrative Bulletin or other recommendations from Health
Services medical staff or Risk Management'
D. Department Head: Department Heads and their designated
representatives are responsible for the implementation of the
provisions of this Administrative Bulletin- Each department will .
provide" maintain, and replace terminal equipment and furniture in
accordance with this Administrative Bulletin. Departments are
encouraged to consult with their employees on equipment and
furniture'
E. Department Safety Coordinator: Department Safety Coordinator (or
Committee) shall be responsible for evaluating the program's
effectiveness by regular inspections, reports from supervisors, or
from concerns expressed by operators.
F. Supervisor: The immediate supervisor is responsible for ensuring
that employees are provided with appropriate terminal equipment.
The supervisor is also responsible for training employees in the
correct use and maintenance of the equipment-
G. Employee: Each employee is responsible to use equipment in the
manner established by the supervisor, consulting physician, physical
therapist, and manufacturer' The employee is responsible for
following established guidelines to ensure that the equipment is
properly maintained in good condition. The employee is also
responsible for reporting malfunctions of equipment/furniture or
problems related to use of the equipment/furniture to the immediate
supervisor. Employees are encouraged to advise their supervisors of
the availability of now o/ improved equipment.
- 2 -
'
B. Work Station Furniture and Accessories
1. Chairs.
a. Chairs should be provided that allow the operator to
place feet comfortably on the floor or, if
necessary, a foot support surface.
b. The height of the seat and the angle of the seat
back should be adjustable by the operator in a
seated position.
c_ The maximum seat depth (forward edge to backward
edge of seat pan) should permit contact with the
seat back in the lower back area and be designed to
avoid pressure on the back of the lower leg (such as
a "waterfall" front edge design). (Figure 1)
d. The seat width should be at least the thigh breadth
of the seated person.
e. A back rest which supports 'at least the low back
region or above with a minimum width of 12 inches in
the low back region should be provided. A contoured
lumbar (low back) support should be provided on the
backrest.
f. The angle between the seat back and the seat pan
shall permit the user to assume a firmly supported
working posture with a torso-to-thigh angle of at
least 100 degrees but not less than 90 degrees.
(Figure 2)
g. Chairs with .seat pans that tilt forward should be
designed so. as not to constrain the upper body to a
position forward of vertical .
h.. Chairs should be stable and capable of swiveling.
Where mobility is required, chairs should be fitted
with casters. Chairs with casters shall have a five
(or more) prong base.
i . Chairs should be upholstered with absorbent fabric.
j . Armrests should be provided upon the request of the
operator, and if provided, should be at least the
width (between armrests) of the operator.
2. Work surfaces (desks, tables where VDT equipment is
positioned) .
a. The depth should be adequate to allow knees and feet
to fit under the work surface.
i
.r-,
SEAT I ��
DEPTH i Ir
I I
> 90• 11 i
I i
I i
I
I x Figure 1. Seat depth. ' A "c
Figure 2- Torso-to-thigh angle.
i /
1
70-135•
THIGH
CLEARANCE
IKNEE
i
Figure 3. Clearance under the worksurface, I
height-
.
Fl ure 4. Height of the keyboard
support surface.
e ,
f�1
1
F_ICUI-e Height o, the display support
e. Document holders should be provided on request by
the operator to allow placement of documents in the
same viewing angle as specified for display screens
in Paragraph II, Section 8.2(f).
f. Anti-glare treatment for the display screen
(anti-glare or etched screen, diffusing surface,
anti-reflection coating, or faceplate filter) should
be provided at the request of the operator.
C. Work Station Environment
1. Light levels should be controlled to minimum glare
with individual work station lighting provided for
jobs requiring higher levels due to visual demands.
Lighting may be controlled by use of shielded
luminaries, indirect luminaries, or collimating
luminaries.
2. Equipment should be located, or the room arranged,
so that bright sources are not in the visual field
while viewing the screen, or so that the source
documents or light colored materials are not seen by
the VDT user as reflections on the screen.
3. Light from windows should be controlled by using
drapes, blinds, reduced transmission glass, louvers,
baffles, or a combination of these controls.
III. WORK BREAKS
No operator shall be required to work at a VDT continuously for more than two
hours without either a 15 minute break for alternate work (which work shall be
considered part of the working day) or the employee's regularly scheduled work
break as agreed to by the appropriate memorandum of understanding. Alternate
work shall not include other forms of typing or data entry which are
substantially similar to the VDT duties. We encourage, where possible, the
design of jobs that do not require continuous full-time VDT operation.
IV. VISION CARE
As agreed to in collective bargaining, operators working at least 20 hours a
week shall be given, upon request, an annual visual examination and corrective
lenses if necessary for VDT work.
V. TRAINING
All VDT operators and their supervisors shall be provided with an education and
training program. This training program must be approved by the County Safety
Officer or designee. Each Department shall maintain records identifying those
employees trained under this guideline.
6 -
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........ Contra Costa County
Health Services Department
PUBUC HEALTH DIVISION
AdministraWe Offi 7,
" 1111 Ward Street
��s�;. ,.• j Martinez,Caldornis 94553
A C
March 24, 1990
To: I. O. Committee
Supervisor Sunne McPeak
Supervisor Tom Powers
From: Wendel Brunner,
Director of Public Health
by Ruth Lowengart, M.D.
Occupational Medicine Program Manager
Subject: Report on Protocols Which Would Be Required For
Adequate Tests of VDT Related Causes of Physical Ailments
In your memo dated December 14, 1989, you requested that the Public
Health Division provide additional information on VDT health and
safety issues . The following is a reply to those requests.
The Public Health Division will gladly review and comment on any
additional scientific studies which are made available to the
County regarding VDT health and safety issues. We will notify you
if we become aware of, any studies which substantially change our
current opinions.
We were asked to review prior scientific studies which have been
made of VDT safety and to note any inherent weaknesses in
methodology which would lead to less than conclusive opinions .
We have reviewed the key literature regarding VDT health and
safety, with particular attention to scientific literature reviews
including documents published by the American Medical Association's
Council on Scientific Affairs, National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) , Sweden National Board of Occupational
Safety and Health, World Health Organization (WHO) , California
Department of Industrial Relations Ad Hoc Expert Advisory Committee
on Visual Display Terminals, and the Subcommittee on Health and
Safety Committee on Education and Labor - House of Representatives .
Our opinion submitted to you on 9111189 is derived from the
opinions of these organizations.
A372 (1/891
771 Pw .a
difficult, if not impossible, for one study to look at all health
effects related to VDTs.
2. An appropriate choice of study design, i.e. population
(cohort) study, case-control study, descriptive (cross-section)
study, or intervention (clinical trial) study. Choice of design
will depend on the hypothesis to be studied. All four types of
studies are needed to look at VDT health effects.
3. Appropriate selection of the population, and if need be
a control group to be studied. The population must be selected
without bias. If a control group is used there are considerations
of the comparability of the group, whether they can be "matched"
according to such variables as age and sex.
4. Sufficient number in the study _population to make a
statistically significant determination based on the expected
outcome. For some rare diseases, or those with multi-factor
causes, extremely large populations may be needed.
5 . A valid and reproducible measurement of effect. For
example, a valid questionnaire, record `(such as birth or death
certificate) , diagnostic technique, or physical finding. For many
of the health effects potentially related to VDT work, we have
inadequate measurement techniques.
6 . Appropriate analysis. This will vary depending on the
type of study.
7 . Intelligent and unbiased interpretation of the results .
8. Peer review of methodology, analysis, and interpretation.
CONCLUSION:
Implementation and evaluation of studies of the health effects of
VDTs is appropriately a role for the State Health Services
Department, federal government, university, or private research
groups . In particular, the ergonomic problems associated with VDTs
warrant further study and evaluation. Assemblyman Burt Margolin
has introduced a measure, AB2744, to establish an occupational
ergonomics program within the State Department of Health Services
as part of their Occupational Health Program. There is growing
awareness that musculoskeletal problems are a . leading cause of
disability and diminished quality of life and that they can be
prevented in the workplace through the science of ergonomics . This
bill would make an integrated statewide response to these problems
possible. Implementation of an occupational ergonomics program
within DOHS would effectively address many of the issues raised by
VDT use throughout Contra Costa County and the State.
WB:RL:rm
cc: Mark Finucane
Health Services Director
3
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(ATE OF'CAUfCMNIA—DEPARTMENT Of INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS GEORGE DEUr-WAAN, Governor
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
f
1ND HEALTH STANDARDS BOARD •►
)46 FOURTH STREET
ACRAMENTO, CA 95814-3372
'16) 322.3W
December 22, 1989 RECEI 'N JED
DEC-2 71989
Tom Torlakson, Chairman
Contra Costa Count Board of Supervisors -w,BATCHELOR
County p t:;�CK EOARDQf SUPERVISORS
County Administration Building ; coli- sTAco.
651 Pine Street, Room 106
Martinez, CA 94553
Dear Mr. Torlakson:
We received your December 12, 1989 letter expressing the Contra
Costa County Board of Supervisors' concern regarding the failure
of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt
specific standards for occupational use of video display
terminals (VDT's) .
The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Board)
granted Petition Files No. 205, 206, and 207 in August, 1986 to
the extent that the Division of Occupational Safety and Health
(Division) was requested to convene an expert advisory committee
to consider the problems associated with VDT use, and to
determine and report to the Board whether necessity exists for
regulations in this area.
The advisory committee discussed such VDT-related issues as
adverse effects on vision, the musculo-skeletal system and
reproduction, stress, and indoor environment. After nearly two
years of study and. deiiberation, the committee concluded its
report to the Board in May, 1989. This report demonstrates the
inability to reach consensus on the necessity for VDT-related
standards in the various tonic areas.
In a separate memorandum dated May 31, 1989, the Division
summarized its evaluation of the evidence submitted and .discussed
by the advisory committee and made recommendations based on the
relationship of VDT-related problems to similar problems
experienced by workers who do not use VDT's. The Division
believes that it may be more appropriate to develop requirements
to broadly address all situations where employees have similar
complaints or problems, and thus proposes to develop ergonomic
and training standards to address these issues.
At its June 22 , 1989 Business Meeting in San Francisco, the Board
voted to accept the Division's evaluation and recommendations,
recognizing the Division 's responsibility and commitment to
maintaining surveillance of occupational health issues. The