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. 2020;65(4):903-914.
doi: 10.3233/WOR-203141.

Visual fatigue during control room work in process industries

Susanne Glimne  1 , Rune Brautaset  1 , Cecilia Österman  2
Affiliations

Visual fatigue during control room work in process industries

Susanne Glimne et al. Work. 2020.

Abstract

Background: Working in front of computer screens is visually demanding and related to adverse eye symptoms. Occurrence of glare further increases visual fatigue.

Objective: This paper presents results from an examination of visual ergonomics in control room environments at two Swedish process industries.

Methods: Visual conditions were examined and evaluated in nine control rooms and eighteen process operators answered questions about their perceived workload and visual experiences.

Results: When working in the control rooms, the mental workload was rated significantly higher by the participants, compared to experienced performance. The operators further experienced significantly higher visual fatigue and blurred vision compared to double vision and sore eyes. Visual demands were increased in conditions where contrast glare was present, as well as frequent changes of focusing distances, and low contrast between background and characters in computer screens.

Conclusions: Suboptimal visual working conditions in the control rooms contributes to increased visual demands on the operators. Presence of glare is leading to visual fatigue and an unnecessary high mental load. The findings support the relevance of considering principles of general and visual ergonomics when designing and organizing work in control rooms. Workstation design should also be flexible to allow for individual and contextual adjustments.

Keywords: Visual demands; contrast glare; lighting design; workload.

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Conflict of interest statement

None to report.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Example of a control room operator wearing eye tracker glasses while monitoring operations.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of the most scored experiences of eye symptoms (mean value and standard deviation) in control room when performing tasks.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Pictures taken with LMK Mobile advanced digital luminance camera with analysis software (LMK Glare Analysis, AddOn) illustrates reflected glare within the field of view in one of the control rooms. A yellow/white colour corresponds to highest luminance (luminance image).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Illustration of recorded eye movements in one of the control rooms where supervisory work involved continuous differences in visual distances.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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