The People Bulletin

Advances in technology have lead to the widespread use of display screen equipment (DSE) and many jobs now require prolonged use of DSE to complete work tasks. This has had an impact on the types of injuries being reported in workplaces, particularly offices, as people are spending more time seated in one position. It is currently accepted that DSE itself is not harmful, however the way in which DSE is used can contribute to discomfort and ill-health for employees.

The HR professional’s role in compliance

When deciding on a compliance strategy it is important to understand the nature of the risks to employee health, the extent of this risk (i.e. the number of employees affected and the time they are sat at their DSE) and the safety culture of the company. The HR department are invaluable in this process by being able to provide management and health and safety personnel (if they differ) with statistics on sickness absence related to DSE use.

In terms of legislation, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (DSE Regulations) contain specific duties for employers relating to the use of DSE¹. Many of these duties can be dispensed between HR, line managers and the health and safety competent persons² on site. The main duties are to:

1. Perform ‘a suitable and sufficient analysis’ of workstations³ to assess the health and safety risks to which employees⁴ are exposed i.e. DSE workstation risk assessments;
2. Plan users’ activities so that daily work is periodically broken up by activity changes, usually 5-10 minutes for every hour of DSE work;
3. Provide employees (whether they are current users or about to become users) with appropriate eye and eyesight tests at their request;
4. Meet the costs of tests and of any special corrective appliances prescribed to adjust visual quality at the DSE viewing distance, where normal appliances (glasses or lenses) cannot be used; and
5. Provide users with adequate health and safety training in the use of the workstations where they work and inform users about the health and safety aspects of their workstations.

Workstation assessments

One of the most time consuming aspects of managing DSE is the workstation assessment. These should be performed when a new person joins an organisation, if an employee experiences any problems, or if a user’s workstation changes e.g. equipment, furniture or lighting. Routine reviews should also be carried at a suitable frequency.

Ways of managing assessments vary from company to company but for a small-medium sized business a sensible process would be for the HR team to tie workstation assessment into a new starter’s induction training e.g. notify the health and safety competent person of a new starter and get them to arrange the assessment. Following this initial assessment, the line manager of the user will then notify the HR/competent person if the employee has highlighted a problem or if the workstation changes. Copies of completed workstation assessments should be held by the user and on the user’s employment file.

Planning activities

Line managers should have a good grasp of the work habits required by the user’s role therefore it is sensible that they take the lead in the planning of activity in terms of breaks from DSE work. When we talk here about ‘breaks’ we do not mean tea breaks or time away from the desk talking idly to friends on their mobile phone but rather time away from staring constantly at the screen. A break can simply mean taking a telephone call, doing some filing, attending meetings or conferring with colleagues.

Eye tests

The provision of eye tests is an occasional cause of concern for employers, not least because it can lead to expensive prescriptions. Often the HR department are left to implement and maintain an eye test provision scheme. The DSE Regulations do require that employers provide users of DSE with a suitable eye test but this does not necessarily have to be left with the employee. Furthermore if the user arranges an eye test without approval and then asks the organisation to pay for it, then the organisation is not obliged to pay although they will be required to provide another test on request.

It is acceptable for an organisation to require employees to attend a specific optician, especially where there is one located nearby. This is particularly useful if an organisation can make a business arrangement with a local optician and negotiate a reduced ‘bulk buy’ rate for the tests.

Corrective appliances

Again many organisations are unsure about what they are legally obliged to provide when employees need a prescription for corrective appliances for DSE work5. It is relatively clear cut where the optician has stated in their assessment that corrective appliances are required exclusively for DSE work (e.g. a pair of glasses specifically for DSE use) but it becomes less clear where bi/varifocals are prescribed.

In this instance, it is reasonable for the organisation to pay the cost of a basic DSE prescription towards the bi/varifocals. A figure of £50 is regularly touted but this will vary from location to location e.g. a basic DSE prescription in a city may be £75 whereas in smaller towns it may be £40. It should be remembered though that bi/varifocals are not ideal for DSE work, often requiring users to tilt their head to look through the correct part of the lens which may lead to neck and or shoulder problems.

Training

The organisation’s HR team has an obvious role to play in the provision of training and the training required for employees under the DSE regulations is no exception. Normally the health and safety competent person will be able to provide the training as part of the induction process. As with workstation assessments, the HR team will need to retain suitable records, preferably on the user’s employment file.

Notes

1 The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 (DSE Regulations), www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1992/Uksi_19922792_en_1.htm

2 The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 define a competent person as one who ‘sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities’ to be able to assist an employer in complying with H&S law. www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19993242.htm

3 A workstation is defined in the Guidance to the DSE Regulations as ‘an assembly comprising i) display screen equipment (whether provided with software determining the interface between the equipment and its operator or user, a keyboard or any other input device ii), any optional accessories to the display screen equipment, iii) any disk drive, telephone, modem, printer, document holder, work chair, work desk, work surface or other item peripheral to the display screen equipment, and iv) the immediate work environment around the display screen equipment. The regulations also cover laptop computers and other similar portable devices.

4 A user as defined in the guidance to the DSE Regulations as ‘an employee who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part’ of their normal work. www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg36.pdf

5 Regulation 5 of the DSE Regulations states that a corrective appliance must be provided following an eye test ‘where normal corrective appliances cannot be used; and the result of any eye and eyesight test which the user has been given in accordance with this regulation shows such provision to be necessary.’