VDU workstations and vision in post office and bank operators.

A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 26 VDU operators in a post office and a bank, working regularly on video display units. The study aimed at (1) determining the physical working conditions, particularly lighting conditions, (2) assessing employees' complaints, (3) measuring visual defects among operators in VDU workstations. The following results are revealed: (a) ergonomic shortcomings in workplace and work station design were clearly noticed (b) noise level was between 60 db and 78 db, (c) illumination parameters did not much the task and caused ocular symptoms and visual fatigue, (d) visual tests revealed vision defects in 84.6% of the cases, (e) visual fatigue was noticed at the end of the working day. The abnormal frequency of operators' complaints can be explained by the association of visual defects and inadequate working conditions.