Employer’s responsibilities

The Employer Must (Legal Requirements);

  • Analyse workstations, and assess and reduce risks. This includes the workstation equipment, furniture and the work environment. This extends to the ergonomics of the job being done and any special needs of individual members of staff.
  • Ensure Workstations meet minimum requirements, for example suitable chairs and a good level of lighting etc. All workstations must now comply with Health and Safety legislation (the transitional period for older workstations expired at the end of 1996).
  • Reassess if there is a change in the equipment used or job activity, such as new computers or a different task to be performed at the workstation.
  • Assess new members of staff as and when they arrive. This includes agency staff or temporary staff who will be working at tasks set by the employer or on equipment supplied by the employer. This also covers homeworkers.
  • Plan work so there are suitable breaks or changes of activity. No regulations exist but some guidelines are available in the current legislation.
  • On request arrange eye tests, and provide spectacles if special ones are needed. Employees covered by the regulations can ask their employer to provide and pay for an eye and eyesight test.
  • Provide health and safety training and information. Employers have to provide training, to make sure employess can use their VDU and workstation safely, and know how to make best use of it to avoid health problems, for example by adjusting the chair

The Employer Can (Good Practice);

  • Encourage early reporting of symptoms, if possible set up a safety net with a local specialist in rehabilitation.
  • Deal with all physical symptoms quickly and efficiently as possible by identifying the problem and seeking outside help if needed.

Setting up schemes with local practitioners to help staff stay free from pain and injury is tax deductable and is not a taxable benefit for staff. For more information please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/taxrules.pdf

Help with the above points can also be obtained through Future Perfect Health Solutions Ltd, for more information click here or email info@fphealth.co.uk)

  • Reassess the workstations regularly.
  • Provide awareness of eyesight tests
  • Give clear guidelines on breaks.
  • Provide training in software when requested by the user.
  • Update software when it becomes outdated and clumsy.
  • Keep a close eye on the performance of individual hardware units and repair or replace when problems are noted.