Physiological stresses associated with television camera operators' tasks.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the physiological stresses experienced by news media cameramen on their jobs. The tasks performed by the cameramen were simulated, based on the results of monitoring the field performance of these camera operators for a two-week period. Four male professional camera operators volunteered to participate in this study. Heart rate and oxygen consumption were selected to measure the physiological stresses associated with the camera operator's jobs. The results clearly show that jobs performed by the news media camera operators working for small television stations include very demanding physical tasks. The camera operator's job could be classified, based on physiological costs, as heavy work. A detailed discussion of the results and their implications in the process of camera operator's job redesign is given.