Posted By Alan Hewett Hello, I am seeking some opinions on the following. A person, classified as a 'user' under the DSE Regulations, has an eyetest (as per DSE Policy) at an opticians. Information for the optician includes visual work distances and photographs of the working environment. The optician prescribes varifocal lenses, as an exception, due to the nature of the work. The cost of the glasses exceeds our allowances for basic appliances. As an exception in the circumstances mentioned the cost will be covered by employer in full as they are the basic appliances required due to the nature of the task. The opticians have a 'buy one, get one free' policy. Your opinons are sought as to; Who 'owns' the second pair? (would the employer keep them as a replacement if the 1st pair get damaged, what if the user had contributed to the cost for a more fashionable appliance, would the same opinion apply?) If the user had a medical condition that came under the remit of the DDA and the special corrective appliances where supplied as a reasonable adjustment would the employer be able to ask that emplpoyee to contribute towards the costs of the frames and lenses if they chose more fashionable ones above the costs of standard ones? (ie lighwieght or rimless frames, ice style or extra thin lense styles etc) Your comments would be appreciated, Regards Alan

Posted By Alan Hewett Thanks Glyn, Its godd to hear that those type of arrangements workl and it is an area that we are looking at but this can take time as per best value and tendering processes for Local Authorities. In the meantime what would your opinion be on the scenario? Alan

Posted By Ian Mitchell As a related issue, I used to work in a pharmaceutical production environment where side protection was required on eyewear in case of splashes etc. In this instance, if you needed corrective eyewear for work you were sent to the site approved optician and tested for free company issue glasses with side pieces built in. Fashionable didn't enter into it- you got the basic frame (male or female) which meant that there was no desire to take them when you left (I didn't!!).

Posted By garyh What message does this send to the employee? The message it sends me is that the employer is being a bit narrow minded. Just let this person have both pairs of specs. For goodness sake!

Posted By LTN I agree with the GaryH. A second pair of glasses is very important when you consider how often people break or damage them, lose them, forget them etc so let the employee decide where they and how they should keep their spare one. There may be no such thing as a free lunch but BOGOF can be more cost effective than getting another replacement pair later. If the employee wants to pay extra to upgrade their glasses to thinner lens etc. then those costs are usually added separately so the employee could pay towards those extras I would have thought.

Posted By Glyn Atkinson In my experience, the buy one free does not apply to a commercially thought through scheme for safety glasses - you can buy other glasses through a family plan, but the safety specs are bought through signed for vouchers issued by safety department or occ health - price per pair - no other offers apply. Extra voucher required for bi focal adjustment lenses or lens option for tinting in certain working and lighting conditons - it's not a fashion show handout, it's for work purposes. Alan, please pm me if you require exact details of how I run / control this scheme at work for employees with work related assessment needs, both on production lines and vdu type protection. A pleasure to help in any way !

Posted By Ron Hunter The specs legally belong to the employer.HSE/HELA guidance is clear on this. Exceptional or not, the employer must bear the cost of 'corrective appliance', i.e. basic frame and prescribed lenses (without ant special tints or coatings). It is fundamnetally incorrect, I believe, to refer to this as "an allowance" You could consider entering into a fixed price contract with an optician for baic frame single vision & vari-focal specs.