Citation

Cole BL. Aust. J. Optom. 1982; 65(4): 134-140.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1982, Australian Optometrical Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1444-0938.1982.tb03670.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Community decisions often seem to be the result of chance events and reflect the past rather than the future: too often decisions are made midst confusion and from an imperfect understanding. Two examples are given. The controversy over VDUs and other screen based equipment has led to an increasing awareness of the need for good workplace ergonomics and some good decisions are being made. The risk is that the heated debate and lack of a full understanding of the issues will lead to decisions that will unnecessarily limit the gains to be made from modern technology. It is hoped that the new awareness of the value of good workplace ergonomics might flow to other workplace situations since a New Zealand survey shows that conventional office workers show a prevalence of visual difficulty much the same as that for VDU operators. The second example recounts the history of colour vision standards in transportation: the original decision to impose a colour vision standard arose because of a railway accident falsely thought to be due to defective colour vision and current standards are still based largely on decisions made more than fifty years ago.

Language: en