The European Community Directive
90/270/EEC, issued in 1990, concerns the minimum health
and safety standards of display screen users. The Directive
becomes law in the UK and the rest of Europe on 1 January
1993 and instructs national administrations to bring the
laws and regulations necessary to make it effective into
force. In the UK this responsibility falls to the Health and
Safety Executive (HSE). This paper describes possible risks
to workers using display screen equipment, standards
relating to visual display terminals, the provisions of the
Directive, how these have been interpreted by the HSE in its
draft legislation and the implications of this legislation for
libraries.