CELEX: 51988PC0077
Language: en
Date: 1988-03-07
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE CONCERNING THE MINIMUM SAFETY AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS FOR WORK WITH VISUAL DISPLAY UNITS ( FOURTH INDIVIDUAL DIRECTIVE WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 13 OF DIRECTIVE... ) COM ( 88 ) 73 FINAL

29. 4. 88                              Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 113/7
                                                              II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for
                                               work with visual display units (')
                                                      COM(88) 77 final
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 11 March 1988)
                                                        (88/C 113/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March
                                                                   1983 lays down a procedure for the provision of infor-
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             mation in the field of technical standards and regu-
Economic Community, and in particular Article 118A                lations ( 4 );
thereof,
                                                                  Whereas, in order to achieve the maximum degree of
Having regard to the Commission proposal drawn up                 protection which is reasonably practicable, it is essential
after consultation with the Advisory Committee on                 that workers and their representatives be informed of the
Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (2),                risks to their safety and health and of the measures
                                                                  required to reduce or eliminate these risks, and be
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                       allowed to verify that the necessary protective measures
                                                                   have indeed been taken;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                 Whereas employers must keep abreast of technological
                                                                   progress in order to provide optimum safety and health
Whereas Article 118A of the Treaty provides that the              protection for their workers;
Council shall adopt, by means of directives, minimum
requirements for encouraging improvements as regards              Whereas the requirements for work with VDUs are
the health and safety of workers, especially in the                essentially expressed in terms of the desired results;
working environment;
                                                                   Whereas under the new approach to technical harmoni-
Whereas Article 118A also recommends that Directives               zation and standards (5) it is desirable to have access to
shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal           technical reports detailing certain technical specifi-
constraints which would hold back the creation and                 cations;
development of small and medium-sized undertakings;
                                                                   Whereas a committee composed of members nominated
Whereas the Communication from the Commission on                   by the Member States needs to be set up to assist the
 its programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at            Commission       in implementing      the   supplementary
work (3) provides for the adoption of directives designed          measures provided for by the Directive,
to guarantee the safety and health of workers;
Whereas Member States have a responsibility to ensure              HAD ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
the safety and health of persons on their territory, and of
workers in particular;
                                                                                              Article 1
Whereas Member States' legislative systems differ widely            1.    This Directive, which is an individual Directive
 with regard to the prevention- of risks relating to work          within the meaning of Article 13 of Directive . . ., lays
 with visual display units (VDUs);                                 down minimum safety and health requirements for work
                                                                   with visual display units (VDUs) as defined in Article 2.
 0) COM(88) 73 final.
 (2) Council Decision 74/325/EEC of 17 June 1974.                   (4) OJ L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8.
 (5) COM(87) 520 final — Council Resolution 88/C28/01 of 21         (s) Council Resolution of 7 May 1985 (OJ No C 136, 4. 6.
     December 1987 (OJ No C 28, 3. 2. 1988).                            1985).
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 113/8                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                  29. 4. 88
2.    This Directive shall apply to all work stations                                       Article 8
equipped with a VDU.
                                                                  Workers or their representatives shall be consulted by the
It shall not apply to drivers' cabs or control cabs for           employer on the measures taken pursuant to this
vehicles or machinery, nor to onboard computer systems.           Directive which concern them directly, and in particular
                                                                  on the measures taken pursuant to Article 6.
                          Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive, the following terms                                    Article 9
have the meaning hereby assigned to them:                        Workers shall have an appropriate ophthalmological
— 'Visual display unit': an alphanumeric             screen,     examination prior to commencing VDU work if they
    regardless of the display process employed.                  report visual discomforts which may be connected with
                                                                 the work.
— 'Work station': the assembly comprising the display
    screen, keyboard, peripherals including the printer,         The worker shall be provided with special glasses tested
    the manuscript containing the data, the work chair,          for the work concerned if an ophthalmological exam-
    the work desk, and the immediate work environment.           ination shows that they are required and that glasses
— 'Worker': any person using a VDU.                              intended for normal purposes cannot be used.
                          Article 3                                                       Article 10
1.    Member States shall take all necessary measures to          1.   The Commission shall adapt the Annex to this
ensure that VDU work cannot compromise the safety or             Directive to take account of technical progress and
health of workers.                                               developments in regulations, giving priority to the
                                                                 European standards.
2.    Member States shall ensure that the necessary
checks pursuant to paragraph 1 are carried out.                  2.    For the purpose of making the adaptations referred
                                                                 to in paragraph 1 the Commission shall be assisted by a
                          Article 4                              committee, following the procedure laid down in Article
                                                                  14 of Directive . . .
1.    Employers shall be obliged to perform an analysis
of work stations in order to evaluate the safety and
                                                                                          Article 11
health risks to workers.
                                                                  1.   Member States shall bring into force the laws,
2.    They shall, where necessary, take appropriate              regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
remedial measures in the light of*the risks found.               comply with this Directive by 1 January 1991 at the
                                                                 latest and shall forthwith inform the Commission
                          Article 5                              thereof.
Work stations put into service two years after the entry
                                                                 2.    Member States shall communicate to the
into force of this Directive shall take into account at
                                                                 Commission the texts of the provisions of national law
least the minimum requirements laid down in the Annex
                                                                 which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
to this Directive.
                                                                 Any technical regulations which Member States intend to
                          Article 6                              adopt under this Directive shall be communicated to the
                                                                 Commission at the draft stage in accordance with the
Existing work stations not covered by Article 5 shall be
                                                                 procedure laid down in Article 8 of Council Directive
adapted, in so far as is reasonably possible, to comply
                                                                  83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a
with the minimum requirements laid down in the Annex
                                                                 procedure for the provision of information in the field of
to this Directive.
                                                                 technical standards and regulations.
                          Article 7                               3.   Member States shall report to the Commission
1.    Every worker involved in VDU work shall receive            every two years on the practical implementation of the
adequate training before commencing this type of work             provisions of this Directive, indicating the points of view
and at regular intervals thereafter.                              of employers and workers. The Commission shall inform
                                                                  the committee and the tripartite committee.
2.    Workers shall receive information on all aspects of
health and safety relating to their work station, including                                Article 12
the possible effects on their eyes and physical or mental
problems.                                                         This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- ^^t ^                                         C^fhci^l]oLirn^lofthcELironc^riCOmrrinriinc^                                                                 ^oCM^B^
      MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS C O N C E R N I N G W O R R W I T H VISUAL DISPLAY UNITS ^VOUs^
      t   D^spl^ysc^eeo
         The characters on the screen shall be welldefmed and clearly formed, of adequate size and with
         adequate spacing betweenthe characters and lines T h e i m a g e o n t h e screen shouldbe stable,with no
         flickering or other forms of instability
         The brightness contrastbetween the characters and the background shall beeasily adjustable by the
         operator
         The screen shall, as far as reasonably practicable, be rotatable,tiltable and movable to suit the needs of
         the operator
      ^ Keyboard
         T h e k e y b o a r d s h a l l b e s e p a r a t e f r o m t h e s c r e e n s o a s t o a l l o w t h e w o r k e r t o f m d asuitable working
         position avoiding muscle fatigue in the arms and hands The space around the keyboard shall be
         sufficient to provide support for the hands and arms of the operator
         The keyboard shall have a matt surface to avoid reflective glare, the keys shall have lowreflectance
         surfaces and concave tops
         The symbols cm the keys shall be adequately contrasted
      ^ Wo^kdesk
         The work desk shall haveasufficiently large,lowreflective surface and allowaflexible arrangement of
         the screen, keyboard, documents and related equipment
         The document holder shall be situated o n t h e desk on the same level as the display screento minimize
         the need for rapid head and eye movements
         Adequate leg space is necessary
      ^t W o ^ k c b ^ r
         The work chair shall be stable but allow the worker easy freedom of movement
         The seat height shall be adjustable, and all chairs shall have back rests adjustable in height and tilt The
         possible need forafootrest shall be taken into account
      ^    L^h^^
         Suitable ambient lighting is required so as to provide satisfactory working conditions and an appropriate
         contrast between the screen and the background environment
         Lamps for secondaryactivities shall be provided where necessary,they shall be adjustable but shall not
         cause glare or reflections on the screen
      D Re^Iec^oos^^d^Iare
         A V D U s h a l l be positioned so that neither the screen nor the operator are f a c i n g a w m d o w Windows
         shall be fitted withasuitable system of adjustable covering
      ^   No^e
         The printer shall be placed where it does not distract attention or disturb speech
      ^   H^^d^ty
         An adequate level of humidity shall be established and maintained
         Thepsychosocialfactors applicable to w o r k o n screen andprogram writing ^software developments
          shall be taken into account
         The principles of software ergonomics shall be applied in particular to human data processing and
          decisionmaking capacities