Hi,

Is it ok to have a desk configuration that includes the use of a small laptop screen and a larger main mionitor?

we have multiple users with this set up and I am not convinced it meets DSE requirements, but I am unable to find anything to back up my claim.

Any help would be appreciated.

Have used this arrangement for many years

Initial equipment was brilliant as the laptop had a desk docking stand that was angled so that both displays could be set at the same height.

Recent laptops no longer have dedicated stands relying upon a USB style replicators however this does not impede use.

IMHO the switching between views allieviates the fixed distance stare associated with single screen use

Multi screen use is common in many sectors - banking, investment, graphic design, art, film many with identical screen displays and others a mix of fixed display and laptop screen.

You willl find most users in this digital age are utilising one or other screen in a similar manner to the document stands everyone rushed to buy at the outset of DSE

You may also wish to consider that if you force a single screen policy you will find a lot of resentment from users as once you get used to multiple monitor set ups its is frustrating and time consuming tabbing between windows on a single screen

Paul,  I have  some guidance on this and maybe a DSE assessment, but having recently changed jobs  I cannot recall where- if I find it i will post it.

  I find two screens works best on a curved desk but you can set up on a sraight desk. You need to have a good laptop stand that allows you to get the screens more or less level.

If you are using both constantly try and angle them so they are  between 150 and 120 degrees ( there is some trial and error here as well as individual prefernce) and proceed as for a standard assessment. Think of it as an extra wide screen, you are only using the main keyboard and mouse

If the laptop is simply used as an extra screen occasionally throughout the day, set the main screen up as per DSE assessment but posistion the laptop on a stand at a convieniet height and posistion so that a simple swivel will suffice. The keyboard of the lap can double as a document stand.

Where we have problems is when the desks are small or shallow, then you have to be firm about using  one or the other! 

A DSE prescription presumes a set focal length to a single screen - not distance, not reading but somewhere in between (hence why employers are expected to pay).

As many have bemoaned for years a set of regulations written in 1992 just haven't kept pace with technology - we have moved from small monochrome monitors to 16 million colour full HD displays some larger than the TV and along the way picked up multiple monitors and portable devices.

The recent article in SHP even revives the discussion regarding mobile phones

https://www.shponline.co.uk/are-smartphones-dse/

Given the prepensity in the work environment (often employer issued) aren't even single screen users already operating with two company displays?

Quote – “As many have bemoaned for years a set of regulations written in 1992 just haven't kept pace with technology “

Very well put  Roundtouit  the number of times people approach me and say “as a H&S” Person don’t you know your PC screen is too low? And I have to explain that because I wear varifocals is I put my screen at the prescribed height I would have to tip my head back to use the right part of my lens and I get a stiff neck!