§ 1301. FINDINGS.

(a) The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco finds and declares that it shall be the public policy of the City and County of San Francisco to provide public and private sector employees who operate video display terminals within the City and County of San Francisco with a safe and healthy work environment.

(b) Investigations conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of video display terminal (VDT) operators in response to complaints of headaches, general malaise, eyestrain and other visual and musculoskeletal problems resulted in recommendations for VDT workstation design, VDT work breaks and pre-placement and periodic visual testing to reduce musculoskeletal and vision complaints among VDT users.

(c) Various world-wide studies have demonstrated elevated musculoskeletal discomforts and disorders in VDT operators as compared with non-VDT workers. Statistics from these studies show a correlation between VDT use and shoulder-neck discomfort/pain, wrist tendonitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Statistics also show a higher number of vision complaints among VDT operators compared to other workers. Research has shown that inadequate workstation adjustment, lack of operator knowledge of adjustments, and long, uninterrupted use of VDTs are associated with musculoskeletal disorders and vision complaints. The consensus of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the World Health Organization and the American National Standards Institute is that adjustable VDT workstations in combination with training and proper adjustment of the workstation and periodic breaks from VDT use during the work day substantially contribute to suitable working postures and reduce vision complaints, thereby providing a safer and healthier work environment for VDT operators.

(d) This Board of Supervisors further declares that, although some employees and manufacturers have recognized and implemented safeguards in equipment and workstation design and work routine in order to better protect the health and well-being of employees who operate VDTs on a regular basis, many VDT operators remain, as yet, unprotected. The Board of Supervisors finds that by providing for adjustable workstations and education and training covering workstation design and adjustment, work routine, and the causes of and treatments for health effects association with VDT use, employers will furnish a safer and healthier work place for VDT operators.

(Added by Ord. 405-90, App. 12/27/90)