Governor Vetoes Protections for VDT Workers

Gov. George Deukmejian has vetoed a bill that would have set California’s first ergonomic standards to protect workers who use video display terminals.

The legislation (AB 955), authored by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), would have required all employers to make sure newly purchased VDTs--along with the desks and chairs used by operators of the machines--complied with existing guidelines of the American National Standards Institute. The guidelines suggest that components of a workstation be as adjustable as possible so that each VDT user can type in a posture that keeps physical stress to a minimum.

Deukmejian’s veto message, released Friday, said the bill was “undesirable” because it would “eliminate employers’ flexibility” to solve ergonomic problems on their own.

The bill, which would have taken effect in 1992, was strongly supported by unions that represent a broad range of office workers. They said state standards were needed to curb sharp increases in a wide variety of VDT-related injuries ranging from headaches to wrist and shoulder injuries to eye strain.

Such “repetitive motion” injuries--also suffered by other types of workers as diverse as meat packers and grocery clerks--account for about half of all workplace injuries in the United States.

The California Manufacturers Assn., the California Chamber of Commerce and Deukmejian’s Department of Industrial Relations lobbied against the bill.

Despite increasing awareness of VDT-related injuries, government agencies have been reluctant to step in.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration had prepared voluntary national ergonomic guidelines for release this fall, but they were shelved last month in favor of mandatory standards that will not be ready for years.

Cal/OSHA’s standards board last year rejected a proposal by a special study committee to set statewide VDT standards.

Maine is the only state that has set standards that affect private industry.