[Evaluation of the working load in subjects using equipment fitted with VDU]

In Italy the health and safety of VDU workers is regulated by section VI of Legislative Decree 626/94 (with later modifications). In compliance with this law, employers shall be obliged to analyse workstations, assess and reduce risks; they shall also identify any worker who habitually uses display screen equipment as significant part of his normal work (20 hours per week). Our study presents a new method, named WODSE (Workers of Display Set Equipment), for the objective evaluation of VDU workers effort. It is a software created for measurement of VDT usage time, able to calculate weekly use for each worker. We applied this method to tellers of a great national services agency, obtaining an improvement of VDU risk assessment and, consequently, management.