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auntysmash  
#1 Posted : 27 May 2010 09:36:06(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
auntysmash

We currently provide prescription safety eyewear for safety reasons (nothing to do with DSE use) and pay in full for either single vision or bifocals as required. The guys can also opt for varifocals if they have a bifocal prescription, but have to pay the extra (currently £28). This £28 surcharge however is being strongly challenged by the workforce (with a little help from the Unions, with a very constructive threat to 'report us' to the HSE) on the basis that it's PPE and should be free or charge. We are saying that providing free bifocals fulfils our legal obligations and varifiocals are not an essential safety (or medical) requirement - they are simply a 'nice to have'. So firstly, are we wrong in saying there is no strict legal duty to provide free varifocals? And secondly, what's the common opinion on whether we should provide them anyway on 'good practice' grounds (needless to say, the finance guys don't want to go down this route unless it's for statutory compliance)? Ta Stu
leadbelly  
#2 Posted : 27 May 2010 09:42:18(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
leadbelly

Stu I don't know how old your workforce is but it might be worth considering this report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10156367.stm LB
jay  
#3 Posted : 27 May 2010 10:00:39(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
jay

For employees who normally wear varifocals, reverting to bifocals is likely to "disturb" the getting used to the change that one goes through when using varifocals. Unless you have an extremely large spend, the surcharge, in my personal expereince as a varifocal user is worth it. Last but not least, one the the major chans that also does a workplace voucher scheme has the same extra for bificals and varifocals. The law is not prescriptive. It cannot cover specific circumstances. Common sense should prevail. Have you got access to an independent optometrist, one who is not attached to a chain of stores. They should be able to give independent advice. The BBC article is specific to those aged 65 and over and appears to cover a specific group. In order to make an informed view, you should refer to the original article in the BMJ as media, including the BBC has its own slant/bias.
jay  
#4 Posted : 27 May 2010 10:09:12(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
jay

The conclusion from the article is:- http://www.bmj.com/cgi/c...=&fulltext=varifocal*&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=date&resourcetype=HWCIT "These findings suggest that, with appropriate assessment and counselling, the provision of single lens glasses for older people who take part in regular outdoor activities is a simple and effective falls prevention strategy. However, given that our study and the trial by Cumming et al showed increases in outdoor falls in some participants, clinicians should be conservative in eyewear prescription, particularly in frail older people who do not often leave their homes" It refer to single lens glasses, which bifocals (your prefered option) are not.
auntysmash  
#5 Posted : 27 May 2010 10:11:58(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
auntysmash

LB - interesting stuff. We have a substantial amount of 55+ year old employees, so this may well be relevant to us. Jay - many thanks. The points you've made will hopefully help me convince those with the purse strings to shell out a bit more money! I've never worn bifocals or varifocals, but I can quite imagine that swapping between the two is hard on the eyes. Stu
Ron Hunter  
#6 Posted : 27 May 2010 10:57:30(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Ron Hunter

You have an issue of discrimination, and your legal duties are in that context, as opposed to H&S Law. Requirement in law (or otherwise) to provide prescription safety glasses is irrelevant. You cannot disadvantage one group of employees in this way. Speak to your HR people if you have them.
Steve Sedgwick  
#7 Posted : 27 May 2010 12:19:31(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Steve Sedgwick

Stu I have worn varifocals for 15 years and cannot imagine changing to bifocals. I see this argument from your finance manager as mean and penny pinching and am sure that your workforce see this similarly. How many people does this effect. They may need replacements every 2 / 3 years. I would try to get the Manufacturing / Production Managers on side with this and steam roller the Finance Manager who is obviously not affected by this stance. Steve
DaveDaniel  
#8 Posted : 27 May 2010 13:43:00(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
DaveDaniel

There has never been a duty to provide prescription safety glasses, so if your employees can't manage with what you do provide, you are perfectly entitled to get them to wear a visor or overspecs instead. We had this problem in British Leyland back in 1977, and came up with a scheme where employees contributed towards the prescription cost. Our motto was "we pay for protection, you pay for correction". This was done with the full participation of the TU at the time ("Red Robbo" etc you may recall) and fully informing the HSE. There's nothing to stop you asking the employee to pay the difference. As a varifocal wearer, I can fully vouch for the sense of imbalance it can give me and would concur with research that it can lead to more slips and falls, although I don't think this is sufficient to ban them at work.
SP900308  
#9 Posted : 27 May 2010 13:53:05(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
SP900308

auntysmash I agree with DaveDaniel. How often are they required and what for? I'm sure they also manufacture varifocal contact lenses which should omit the imbalance problem as your brain has to decifer what part of the lens to use and when. Simon
DaveDaniel  
#10 Posted : 27 May 2010 14:23:39(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
DaveDaniel

Simon: I don't think that varifocal contact lenses would actually be any better than glasses. I've never worn contacts but the problem I've experienced is because of using my peripheral vision as part of my sight. Sometimes you can get disorientated. I've come to live with it and be more cautious about moving around, but after 8 years it still catches me out sometimes. There is of course no law requiring the supply of contact lenses.
jay  
#11 Posted : 27 May 2010 17:04:35(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
jay

As such, there is no specific aspect in any regulations that PPE is "free", but the overiding aspect is Section 9 of HASAWA, i.e. "No employer shall levy or permit to be levied on any employee of his any charge in respect of anything done or provided in pursuance of any specific requirement of the relevant statutory provisions" The relevant statutory provisions are the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended). The PPE Regs indeed require comfort to be taken into account when determining the suitability of PPE.
paul.skyrme  
#12 Posted : 27 May 2010 21:51:48(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
paul.skyrme

I have to comment on this one! Sorry, for this and the essay to follow, but, I hope it will be constructive! I was a naughty boy many years ago and suffered an eye injury, one reason I began to "think" H&S. I had a piece of steel in my left eye; it went in through the lens and hit the retina. No substantial damage to the retina, however, the lens was punctured and thus went into what is called a shock cataract situation, I was 22/23. I had the steel removed along with the lens, I was too young to have a lens implant, thus for years I had to wear a contact lens in my eye for corrected vision, however, think of this as a fixed focus camera, I could only see clearly at a single distance point, to see at any other distance I had to wear glasses, these glasses had to have prescriptions for the different distances. Thus IF I was working close up, say half arms length one pair, full arms length another pair etc. etc. For all to understand if you have no lens in your eye it cannot focus. After a few years the hospital was willing to put a lens in my eye to make life easier. By this time I was doing my degree part time, so even though I had one good eye, it was better for me to have binocular focussed vision to reduce eye strain, headaches etc. so I went for reading distance. This did not remove the requirement for loads of pairs of glasses, but, it did mean no contact lens to look after. It was at this time my optician, recommended by the hospital suggested varifocals. These glasses would offer me the variation in focal length that my damaged eye would require to give suitable vision at different focus distances. Also, due to the damage to my eye I have Glaucoma & Astigmatism, but that is another story. When I went to my then employer nearly 20 years ago and tried to explain this, in my request for script safety glasses no joy. I was told to wear overspecs, I went back to my optician with the problems I was getting, glare, false images, reduced clarity of vision, etc. and he agreed that I should not wear overspecs due to the peculiarity of my visual defect. I reported this to my employer and at first no joy, then there was an incident. Something small, no loss, no injury as I recall, but they sat up and took notice. They were really quite good, but just did not know how to deal with my particular situation. They did enter discussions then I left for more money! At my next employer the work did not necessitate such broad wearing of "safety glasses", so this was not an issue. Fast forward to my last position before running my own co. started at the turn of the Century. Big global player, good H&S record, good attitude. However, no extravagant spend. Requested bi-focal safety glasses no bother. Several months later, I developed a cataract in my other eye! This came on very quickly and had a significant impact on my vision due to the original injury. No reason could be identified. I had a very quick removal and lens implant. However, this then left me with two fixed focus eyes! I left there about 5 years ago to give you an idea of timescale. The company begun to implement rigorous eye protection policies as had our customers, I spent a lot of time at customer premises. Thus, I spent a lot of time wearing overspecs. I experienced the same issues, ghosting, glare, double vision, cleanliness issues affecting vision, scratching of my prescription eyewear by the overspecs and others. Bearing in mind for me to have “correct” vision my optician had by this time prescribed on medical grounds varifocals with anti glare coating; I am also quite photophobic due to the surgery and injury. These are not cheap! I approached my employer with the issues I had – HR dept. I had the stock answer, and a good optician. They said no, optician said your call, but you should provide VF for the following reasons… The employer had their own “pet” optician service by this time. I “guess” they passed the issue on. I was told within days to go to my opticians, get a pair of VF safety glasses to suit my needs and put the bill on my expenses. Best decision they ever made! It changed my working life overnight! I was an “on the tools engineer” by then. I had my degree and had begun the road to professional recognition. However we worked with complex equipment in high volume complex manufacturing facilities, thus I was still required to wield hand tools as well as undertake design analysis and applications engineering, programming of computing systems both at the desktop (read laptop) and at the production line. I was a glorified machinery service engineer; my visual demands were quite unique and also quite demanding. In this position, just to give you an idea, at various times I used to undertake the hands on work of maintenance fitters, and electricians, on production machinery, I had responsibility for site H&S for groups of guys, including subbies, RA’s & MS’s, running contracts, reporting, design of control and drive systems, mech and elect, applications engineering of control & drive systems mech & elect, and programming of control systems, back office and on site, whilst covering the whole Country from South Wales (West). Most of this work was at customer’s premises, and included by necessity as it was against the laws of physics (Captain) to do the work any other way, live electrical work. It is impractical to measure a voltage on an electrical supply to an item unless the power is on! My then employers HR dept gave in to the varifocals, I don’t consider myself disable, but I do have some visual problems that I have learned to live with, how, in the words of the advert, “simples” varifocals. Read into this what you will, it is a single case study and no more, however, it has been written from quite a unique perspective perhaps. Paul
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