Posted By jaretbennett
Guidance sought - are interactive whiteboards considered to be display screen equipment - that is the projected image on a screen ?

We have had the question asked with regard to teachers who use IWBs for significant parts of their working day.

This is not about being caught in the beam of the projector whilst teaching from the front of the class (BECTA guidance followed on these issues) but actually looking at the projected image on the whiteboard itself.

Any thoughts gratefully received

Posted By Jonathan Breeze
That should read:

"Paragraph 9 of the published Guidance on the Regulations "Work with display screen Equipment" (L26)..."

Posted By Bill01
No. The DSE Regs do not apply they were not intended for this type of application, that is not to say the employer does not have obligations to the employee but it is not under the DSE Regs.

Posted By Jack
I don't think you need to be too concerned about whether DSE regulations apply or not. The real question is whether staff are exposed to a hazard and if they are what is the risk.

What are the staff concerned about? Is it concern about being exposed to reflected light from the screen? If so, I think it highly unlikely and certainly not something I've seen raised elsewhere (not even by the NUT).

Or are they concerned with posture etc? I could see this being an issue in individual circumstances but, in my view, nothing that couldn't be ameliorated by some simple modifications.

Posted By Jack
Ah sorry, I’d completely overlooked that requirement, probably because I was considering the hazards.

So, going back to the regs, (a) is a whiteboard Display Screen Equipment, and (b) if it is , is the teacher a ‘user‘.

Whilst I concede the point made above that ‘the DSE Regs do not apply (because) they were not intended for this type of application’ I think that is not really relevant. From the definition in the regs and from the guidance I can’t see why they would not come under the definition.

As for whether they are ‘users’, that would be subject to the usual tests; I have no knowledge about how teachers use this equipment but it would seem likely that some would be defined as ‘users’ (you refer to ‘significant parts of their working day’).

I have always considered this a rather strange requirement and I think it was introduced for political rather than h&s reasons but there is some point with regard to ‘normal’ DSE use, in that screen viewing distance is different from normal reading distance and may need special correction. Whiteboard viewing distance is presumably somewhat greater and a teacher whose eyes were not corrected for that distance would also not be able to see a traditional blackboard other than when up close and writing on it.

Of course many teachers - by virtue of their normal computer use - would be defined as ‘users’ so would anyway be entitled to the eye and eyesight provisions. I presume though that if significant whiteboard use was deemed to come within the provisions it would mean rather larger numbers would be so entitled and this would have cost implications.

Personally I think it would be slightly absurd for whiteboard use to entitle teachers to a free eye & eyesight test and ‘special corrective appliances’ but it does seem it could be argued that they come the regs (with, in my opinion, no real h&s benefit). Or have I missed something obvious.

Incidentally, I note the NUT thinks free eye & eyesight tests should be available to any teacher who works with DSE and not just those defined as a ‘user’. They don’t seem to have made the link with regard to whiteboard use, though.

Perhaps best to try and keep a lid on this particular can of worms!!