Employers Avoid DSE Eye Tests Due To Fear Of 'Free For All'

Employers are still unsure about the requirements of contribution to eyesight and glasses provided by the Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Regulations.

Under the DSE Regulations, employers must provide and pay for eyesight tests and provide spectacles where needed for screen viewing distance if employees request. However, employers fear that the DSE Regulations will open a floodgate of free glasses for all, regardless of what they are needed for.

Some employers are worried that opticians may prescribe VDU (Visual Display Unit) glasses for all employees and make employers pay for other related conditions not caused by the use of VDU.

The British College of Optometrists state that the sight test offered by opticians to their patients is a normal sight test as defined in the Opticians Act 1989.

This eye examination will reveal whether there is any defect of sight which may adversely affect the employee's ability to carry out work at the VDU.

If in the course of the examination a defect of sight is discovered which requires correction for purposes other than VDU use, but which might also include VDU use, the law does not require the employer to pay for any spectacles prescribed.

The intention of the regulations is not the free supply of spectacles to all VDU users, rather that people with special needs related to their use of a VDU as part of their employment should receive the necessary appliance at no cost to themselves.

The experience of large companies, with workforce ranging across all age groups, shows that there are likely to be between 5% and 10% of employees who will require a correction specifically for VDU work.

When an employee takes up his or her entitlement under the DSE Regulations, perhaps as a result of visual problems when using a VDU, it is necessary for the optometrist to carry out a full eye examination to determine the cause and to give appropriate advice. As part of the examination, the employee should be asked to describe the workstation and its environment.

On completion of the eye examination, optometrists are required by law to hand over to every patient a prescription or a written statement saying that no prescription is needed. They are also required by law to refer for medical advice those patients in whom they have discovered any sign of abnormality or disease. These obligations remain unchanged whether or not the eye examination is being carried out under the terms of the Health and Safety Regulations, and the prescription or written statement is the property of the patient.
For the purpose of the Regulations, a report should also be made to the employer, with a copy to the employee, which should state clearly whether or not the employee needs a corrective appliance specifically for his or her work at the VDU. The prescription for the corrective appliance for VDU work, if prescribed, may be included in the report provided that the employee's consent has been obtained. The report should also contain a recommendation as to when the employee should be re-examined under the terms of these Regulations. Not only should advice be given in relation to spectacles but also in relation to aspects of the workstation which might be affecting the employee's vision at the screen.

This information should be passed to the employer by the optometrist as part of his/her report.

Confidentiality of clinical information about the employee must be maintained at all times and clinical information should only be divulged to an employer if it is relevant to the employee's work at the VDU and only with the patient's consent.

Source: Workplace Law Network

HSE Guide To Local Environmental Health Authorities on DSE Eye Tests - LAC 16/3

Good Practice Statement from The British College of Optometrists

Designed, Hosted and Maintained by Union Safety Services