ABSTRACT
The Equal Employment Opportunity Law was established in Japan in 1985, the last year of the United Nations Decade for Women. Visual display terminal (VDT) workplaces that employed pregnant workers were selected for the survey; These workplaces were each modern and air conditioned. Although considerably more pregnant women work than in the past, few pregnant workers are typically evident at any given workplace. In the second trimester, pregnant women often report symptoms indicating physical fatigue or musculo-skeletal stress, such as 'want to lie down' and 'get tired in the legs'. The subjective symptom survey indicated that the problems facing pregnant women at their workplace can be characterized by the trimester of pregnancy. VDT work provides a more suitable posture for pregnant women than writing. The motion analysis of the subjects indicates that they must bend forward as they put their hands on the edge of the seat surface before rising from the chair without armrests.
