Visual Fatigue During Control Room Work in Process Industries

Overview

Journal Work

Publisher Sage Publications

Specialty Occupational Medicine

Date 2020 Apr 21

PMID 32310219

Citations 2

Authors

Susanne Glimne

Rune Brautaset

Cecilia Osterman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Working in front of computer screens is visually demanding and related to adverse eye symptoms. Occurrence of glare further increases visual fatigue.

Objective: This paper presents results from an examination of visual ergonomics in control room environments at two Swedish process industries.

Methods: Visual conditions were examined and evaluated in nine control rooms and eighteen process operators answered questions about their perceived workload and visual experiences.

Results: When working in the control rooms, the mental workload was rated significantly higher by the participants, compared to experienced performance. The operators further experienced significantly higher visual fatigue and blurred vision compared to double vision and sore eyes. Visual demands were increased in conditions where contrast glare was present, as well as frequent changes of focusing distances, and low contrast between background and characters in computer screens.

Conclusions: Suboptimal visual working conditions in the control rooms contributes to increased visual demands on the operators. Presence of glare is leading to visual fatigue and an unnecessary high mental load. The findings support the relevance of considering principles of general and visual ergonomics when designing and organizing work in control rooms. Workstation design should also be flexible to allow for individual and contextual adjustments.

Citing Articles

An ergonomic focus evaluation of work-related musculoskeletal disorders amongst operators in the UAE network control centres.

Kim I Heliyon. 2023; 9(10):e21140.

PMID: 37916099 PMC: 10616411. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21140.

Acute and Chronic Periocular Massage for Ocular Blood Flow and Vision: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Hayashi N, Du L Int J Ther Massage Bodywork. 2021; 14(2):5-13.

PMID: 34079599 PMC: 8133878.

References

Glimne S, Brautaset R, Seimyr G . The effect of glare on eye movements when reading. Work. 2013; 50(2):213-20. DOI: 10.3233/WOR-131799. View

PICKWELL L, Yekta A, Jenkins T . Effect of reading in low illumination on fixation disparity. Am J Optom Physiol Opt. 1987; 64(7):513-8. DOI: 10.1097/00006324-198707000-00005. View

Glimne S, Oqvist Seimyr G, Brautaset R . Effect of 3-Dimensional Central Stimuli on Near Point of Convergence. Strabismus. 2015; 23(3):121-5. DOI: 10.3109/09273972.2015.1058400. View

. Dark vergence in relation to fixation disparity at different luminance and blur levels. Vision Res. 1994; 34(9):1197-204. DOI: 10.1016/0042-6989(94)90301-8. View

Jainta S, Dehnert A, Heinrich S, Jaschinski W . Binocular coordination during reading of blurred and nonblurred text. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011; 52(13):9416-24. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.11-8237. View

Nylen P, Favero F, Glimne S, Tear Fahnehjelm K, Eklund J . Vision, light and aging: a literature overview on older-age workers. Work. 2014; 47(3):399-412. DOI: 10.3233/WOR-141832. View

Schneck M, Brabyn J . Seeing into old age: vision function beyond acuity. Optom Vis Sci. 1999; 76(3):141-58. DOI: 10.1097/00006324-199903000-00014. View

Domkin D, Forsman M, Richter H . Ciliary muscle contraction force and trapezius muscle activity during manual tracking of a moving visual target. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2016; 28:193-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2015.11.008. View

Rosenfield M . Computer vision syndrome: a review of ocular causes and potential treatments. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2011; 31(5):502-15. DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-1313.2011.00834.x. View

10.

Toomingas A . A definition of visual ergonomics. Appl Ergon. 2014; 45(4):1263-4. DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2014.03.004. View

11.

Atchison D, Claydon C, Irwin S . Amplitude of accommodation for different head positions and different directions of eye gaze. Optom Vis Sci. 1994; 71(5):339-45. DOI: 10.1097/00006324-199405000-00006. View

12.

Stanton N . Hierarchical task analysis: developments, applications, and extensions. Appl Ergon. 2005; 37(1):55-79. DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2005.06.003. View

13.

Daum K, Clore K, Simms S, Vesely J, Wilczek D, Spittle B . Productivity associated with visual status of computer users. Optometry. 2004; 75(1):33-47. DOI: 10.1016/s1529-1839(04)70009-3. View

14.

Domkin D, Forsman M, Richter H . Effect of ciliary-muscle contraction force on trapezius muscle activity during computer mouse work. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2018; 119(2):389-397. PMC: 6373345. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-018-4031-8. View

15.

. Visual strain during VDU work: the effect of viewing distance and dark focus. Ergonomics. 1988; 31(10):1449-65. DOI: 10.1080/00140138808966788. View

16.

McMurdo M, Gaskell A . Dark adaptation and falls in the elderly. Gerontology. 1991; 37(4):221-4. DOI: 10.1159/000213264. View

17.

Mork R, Falkenberg H, Fostervold K, Thorud H . Visual and psychological stress during computer work in healthy, young females-physiological responses. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2018; 91(7):811-830. PMC: 6132651. DOI: 10.1007/s00420-018-1324-5. View

18.

Richter H, Banziger T, Forsman M . Eye-lens accommodation load and static trapezius muscle activity. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010; 111(1):29-36. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-010-1629-x. View

19.

Hemphala H, Eklund J . A visual ergonomics intervention in mail sorting facilities: effects on eyes, muscles and productivity. Appl Ergon. 2011; 43(1):217-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2011.05.006. View

20.

Helland M, Horgen G, Kvikstad T, Garthus T, Aaras A . Will musculoskeletal, visual and psychosocial stress change for visual display unit (VDU) operators when moving from a single-occupancy office to an office landscape?. Int J Occup Saf Ergon. 2008; 14(3):259-74. DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2008.11076765. View