Ergophthalmological studies in the electronic industry.

162 employees, the majority women, in an electronic industry were examined in a joint study involving several ergonomic aspects. Some results concerning visual skills are here extracted from a more comprehensive report. No natural selection of fitted workers could be demonstrated. The visual function was found to be only one component of a multifactorial system, which determines the psychological and physical well-being and productivity of industrial workers. The lack of a sufficient number of abnormal persons and comparable working conditions made it difficult to define limiting visual standards for job performance. Ordinary tests for visual acuity, near vision, heterophoria and stereopsis revealed few facts of importance. More intersting results were obtained when spectacles were evaluated as suitable for the job. 43% of the spectacles were considered insufficient. The use of bifocals did not seem to be related to the need of head movements, and 68% of all the spectacles had tinted glasses, in spite of the fact that the majority of persons wearing them considered the working illumination inadequate. An analysis of the working posture and the visual capacity of the worker should precede the prescription of spectacles for industrial workers.