New CWA Study Finds High Rate of Illness Among New Jersey State VDT Users

A CWA study, considered the most comprehensive scientific investigation ever into health problems associated with VDT (video display terminal) use among public workers, found a high injury rate among the 500-plus participants.

The study concentrated on public workers represented by CWA in the state of New Jersey. Participants included 514 clerical, technical and professional workers from the state's Education, Justice, State and Treasury agencies, and the results have been presented to the state Human Resources Dept.

The 2-year study, completed this past April, was supervised by Dr. Michael Smith of the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. Janet Cahill of Rowan University.

According to David LeGrande, CWA safety and health director, the study found that 66.7 percent of the participants reported experiencing neck symptoms; 56.4 percent reported hand pain; 54.9 percent reported back pain; half said they had shoulder pain, and 23.8 percent reported elbow pain.

The group reporting the most severe musculoskeletal problems were 132 data entry VDT workers, followed by technical workers, clerical workers and professional workers.

The findings also indicated that participants who had developed problems made a substantial use of their health care benefits, in an effort to treat their disorders, and missed a substantial amount of work because of their health problems. A significant portion, 5.9 percent, reported receiving workers' compensation benefits for their VDT repetitive motion illnesses, and another 4.8 percent had filed for sick leave for their illnesses.

Investigators "conservatively estimate" these health problems are costing New Jersey taxpayers $400,000 a year, the study concludes.

By late May the state department had agreed to participate in an "intervention" program and discussions on similar strategies are underway with the Justice and Treasury departments, reported Mike Lohman, health and safety coordinator for Local 1033 and CWA's point person in New Jersey on VDT problems. Cooperative interventions would involve choosing a high risk pilot location for further study and testing, he said.

CWA has been funding the study so far but plans to seek additional funding from other sources.