6 Feb 2018
Research
issued today by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare reveals the extent of smartphone
use for work purposes but highlights the lack of related employee eyecare.
Research
issued today by Specsavers Corporate Eyecare reveals the extent of smartphone
use for work purposes but highlights the lack of related employee eyecare.
Conducted among over 500 senior decision makers
in UK companies, the research shows that, on average, employers class two
thirds (66%) of their employees as ‘smartphone users’. Yet just a quarter (25%)
of employers provide eyecare for all smartphone users and 18% of employers
provide eyecare for some smartphone
users.
The Display Screen Equipment (DSE)
regulations and Health & Safety Executive (HSE) guidance make it clear that
smartphones are included as DSE and that users should, therefore, be provided with
the same level of eyecare as their colleagues who use traditional PC monitors.
However, it appears that only a few employees using smartphones in their daily
role are receiving the eyecare to which they are entitled.
Jim Lythgow, director of strategic alliances for
Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, said: ‘The tools of our everyday working lives
are changing, and with the dramatic increase in the use of smartphones over
recent years, we suggest employers check and, if necessary, update their
eyecare policy to ensure it reflects the use of modern-day technology.’
Despite being introduced in
1992 and last amended in 2002, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment)
regulations were ahead of their time and do actually relate to smartphone
usage. The FAQs on the HSE website state that ‘handheld devices are subject to the regulations if
in prolonged use for work purposes.’1
Regulation 1.4.d specifically excludes only ‘portable systems not in prolonged
use’2, making it the length and frequency of use that determines
whether a device comes under the DSE regulations, rather than the type of
device or size of screen.
Paragraph 25 of the HSE’s ‘Guidance on Regulations’
booklet2 discusses the merging of information and communication
technologies, where small screens are being used for an increasingly wide range
of purposes. Examples specifically given are personal organisers and mobile
phones used for composing text and accessing the internet – essentially
smartphones – and it states that prolonged use of such devices for work
purposes would be subject to the DSE regulations.
Jim Lythgow concluded: ‘Surprisingly, given the
date when the DSE regulations were first introduced and last updated, they do
allow for the way in which smartphones have become ubiquitous in our lives and
an ever-growing presence in the workplace. Really, it is a matter of common
sense for employers. Although it is necessary to provide smartphone users with
eyecare under the DSE regulations, it also makes sense from a business point of
view, taking into account employee wellbeing, productivity and morale.’
For more
information on DSE eyecare, visit www.specsavers.co.uk/corporate
To find
out more about the DSE regulations, visit www.hse.gov.uk
1.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/faq-dse.htm
2.
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l26.pdf
3. Research undertaken by Opinium
on behalf of Specsavers Corporate Eyecare in November 2017 among 502 senior
decision makers in UK businesses
Specsavers Corporate Eyecare
Website
T: 0115 933 0800
Cirrus House
10 Experian Way
NG2 1EP
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
United Kingdom
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