Folks I need some advice here. For users of display sreen equipment we supply them with free eyesight tests as per regs. If the user uses glasses to see his DSE we also supply £50 towards a basic pair. However, in the regulations it says 87 ‘Normal’ corrective appliances are at the user’s own expense, but users needing ‘special’ corrective appliances will be prescribed a special pair of spectacles for display screen work. Employers’ liability for the cost of these is restricted to payment of the cost of a basic appliance, ie of a type and quality adequate for the user’s work. What is classed as special corrective appliances? What is your policy? Thanks Eddie

Eddy Corrective appliances are "non prescription" lenses. That is the user does not have an eye sight condition that normally requires prescription glasses but does require a special lens to assist the retina to maintain the focal length for reading the screen, I think its normally around 56 cms. The optician will specify this following an eye sight test. Hope this helps a little. Jonty

And where the job is best done using varifocals (e.g. receptionist using DSE) then the employer pays for varifocal lenses in basic frames.

Err....YES, Clairel. Paragraph 87 of L26 is quite specific. Whilst I personally disagree with the provision (and indeed the need for DSE Regs at all) my statement is correct.

Ron - I agree with Clairel, although I also agree this is a difficult situation (and that the law on DSE work is daft). Para 87 says "special spectacles for DSE work" - not "special spectacles for whatever work it is they happen to be doing" In this case the employer is responsible for the equivalent cost of a basic pair of frames with lenses suitable for DSE work. The employee is responsible for the additional costs to have varifocals. I had this exact situation arise, we paid ONLY for the DSE aspect of glasses, not for any other aspect. Same situation arises if an individual wants more fancy frames - they pay the extra cost.

Ron it's a tricky one I agree and I can see both sides. However the employee isn't "out of pocket" as they require the specs for something other than DSE work and so would have to pay for them anyway. IMHO the employer's responsibility is ONLY for the "DSE element" of the specs - i.e. that caused by their "work" on DSE, which equates to the cost of a basic pair of DSE specs and frames. This is certainly how companies I worked for have interpreted the legislation for many years. Interested to hear how others have dealt with this?

Given my wholly jaundiced view of the DSE Regulations, I'm entirely happy to agree to disagree on this matter of interpretation - but I will stick to my guns on the provision and use varifocal specs.

damelcfc - in view of your pseudonym and avatar do you happen to have any affinity for the musical "South Pacific" featuring the hit song "There is nothing like a dame" and/or a transvestite leading role in pantomime?!! :-)

damelcfc - Many thanks for your prompt anc concise response to my curiosity, and apologies to forum users generally for deviating from the subject of this thread.

My experience is different and I'd say that a majority of "office" based roles now require use of DSE for typically more than an hour.

I found that the less important and risky a situation is, the more time and effort I end up having to put into it . . . DSE and spectacles being a case in point. Eddy: After thorough analysis of the regs, and consultation with a few opticians too, we wanted to get rid of what seemed to have become an 'right' to get an automatic £50 contribution to staff updating their usual glasses, just because they had a PC on their desk. So, if staff need reading glasses - their problem. If they need varifocals, their problem / choice. Only those with a specific DSE need would be allowed to have the actual invoice paid for special specs. These were unlikely to be of much use in any other situations, although reading could often be accomodated by something called an "occupational lens" which would compromise the reading and screen correction to allow both. This only works for lesser corrections. However, it was a preferred solution to avoid spec swopping, and would be paid for by the company. Also, if the varifocals used by someone in their 'real' life were causing problems at a screen (often the sweet spot is awkward and causes neck problems) we would pay for DSE distance-only specs. Complicated, and I would suggest only worth the management effort if there are significant numbers of affected staff, where every £50 adds up. Also, H&S give advice, as above, but the actual administration and arguments should be with someone else! Finance ?? Arguing about the cost of spectacles and processing invoices is NOT health & safety. Ironically the staff whose eyesight really could be safety critical - drivers and roadside workers (there are others) were given scant attention.

sadlass and ron - superbly put. I think the Regulations intentions were to tackle RSI (as it was back then) WRULD's / musculoskeletal as we know them today arising from peeps who literally typed a million words a minute for 8 hours a day. Can't disagree the above and similar required tackling. Unfortunately the DSE Regs somewhere along the lines turned into the 'free glasses/time for a new chair Regulations'. With the amount if people that work in office based jobs these days and their only real brush with H&S is DSE and PA Testing - no wonder they think we are all barking mad.