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Posted By lewes
As the title says.
Do DSE eye tests have to be on company time or is it upto the organisation to decide ??
Or are we just being petty ??
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Posted By J Knight
As far as I know they aren't on company time at all; certainly there is nothing in the DSE regs to say they should or shouldn't be. I suppose if working patterns made it impossible for a person to visit an optician outside work hours then the use of the word 'entitled' in the Guidance would mean that you'd have to give them time off to do it, but as far as I have ever implemented these schemes its always been understood that its on the employees' own time,
John
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Posted By Adrian Clifton
I would suggest that eye tests, where supplied by the employer (as in DSE Regs) should be looked upon as an occupational health surveillance issue and should therefore be conducted in works time. Staff who attends HAV's screening or audiometry testing are not expected to do this in their own time.
Adrian
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Posted By lewes
Evenly split then !!!!
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Posted By John Webster
The HSE publishes guidance to LA enforcement officers. Their document LAC 16/1 contains the following on the subject
"HSW s.9 is applicable to payment for eye tests and special corrective appliances. Employers are responsible for costs. Special corrective appliances paid for by the employer remain the employers property.
There is no legal requirement for employers to provide paid time-off for eye tests, although in practice the majority of employers will probably do so."
Personally, I think the guidance is inconsistent, and open to challenge. If the eye test and corrective eyeware must be paid for under reg 9, then surely the employee's time is part of the cost of the eye test?
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Posted By J Knight
Hi Adrian,
I don't think they are an occy health issue like HAVS or Noise. Both HAVS and Noise regs are designed to mitigate a work-related degenerative condition. Eyesight tests are for the comfort and convenience of the user, and to alleviate short lived non cumulative discomfort. Using DSE doesn't give rise to cumulative eye damage in the way that e.g. using vibrating tools damages fingers,
John
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Posted By Nigel Hammond
John
I understand your argument about DSE only being associated with eye strain and not degenerative eye damage. I am not an ergonomist so I could be wrong with this but I think there might be an indirect long-term effect of not having the right spectacles. If people are straining to read a monitor, it will for example cause them to lean forward - which may have a long-term effect on their posture. If this is correct, then eye tests would count as a form of health surveillance
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Posted By J Knight
I have met at least one person who claimed that his eye problems were caused by DSE use, but I have read only very recently (can't remember where) that there is no reliable evidence identifying DSE use as a causative factor in eye problems; it might even have been in SHP,
John
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Posted By Merv Newman
If an employer requires an employee to have an eye test, which the employee would not have undertaken alone, then the employer pays. Whatever interpretation you put on the regulations.
Humph !
Merv
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Posted By Ron Young
Merv, under the DSE Regs, the employer only has to provide an eyetest on request from the employee, therefore, there should be no need for an employer to require an employee to have one. My thoughts are that the employee should make the time to get an eyetest and in my experience this tends to be what happens.
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Posted By 9-Ship
I would take the view that the potential eyesight problem and/or correction required is as a result of using the employers equipment - therefore the duty of care by the employer remains.
Therefore any required remedial action/monitoring/occupational health (I would agree that eyesight testing is a form of occupational health screening) should be undertaken at the employers expense.
If that is by paid cash/salary or time of in lieu, that is subject to local agreement between the employee and employer. Either way the employer pays.
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Posted By J Knight Seen this? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/4008185.stm?ls If true, it changes a lot of stuff about DSE; current Reg 5 tests are for middle-distance vision, if as this report is saying DSE use contributes to myopia and glaucoma it is suddenly a very different kettle of fish, John
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Posted By Tabs
I agree John, but the report seems to raise more issues than it answers ... and the measurements were not "official" (whatever that means).
With 500,000 sufferers in the UK, it would seem we have a sample population if only someone would fund the research, eh?
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