The politics of the quality of worklife in automated offices in the USA

ABSTRACT

Rapid adoption of computer and communication equipment in the USA and the changing nature of the US labour force led the United States Congress, Office of Technology Assessment to examine whether the current quality of worklife policies and regulations were adequate. The policies for regulating the quality of office worklife are part of a large socio-political regulatory framework dating back to the United States Constitution. Current policy debates about video display terminal health and safety must be considered in terms of this broad regulatory landscape. Central to the debate is the nature of the scientific evidence. Equally important is the ability of current labour law to support user participation in the implementation process. The discussion of office equipment and occupational standards in the USA addresses the paucity and applicability of the existing scientific evidence, and the question of who should develop standards.

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Benjamin C. Amick

*This work was completed while the author was at the Communications and Information Technologies Program of the Office of Technology Assessment of the US Congress, Washington, DC. He is now a private consultant.