New research from Specsavers and YouGov has found 85% of employees spend at least an hour a day using computer screens for work purposes.
Three quarters reported spending at least four hours a day working at screens and around half spent at least seven hours a day at their computers.
Results from the sample of 1,007 employees found women were likely to spend more time looking at display screen equipment (DSE) for work purposes than men. In total, 81% of women spend at least four working hours a day on DSE, compared to 69% of men, while 53% of women spend seven or more working hours a day looking at DSE – compared to 46% of men.
Meanwhile, 40% of employees stated they receive eyecare benefits from their employer, such as free or subsidised eye tests or glasses.
Jim Lythgow, director of strategic alliances at Specsavers Corporate Eyecare, said: ‘The working hours people are spending in front of screens is, of course, likely to have increased over recent years but some employers may be surprised by quite how much time their employees now spend using DSE.
This makes it more important than ever for employers to offer eyecare. It is a stipulation of the Health and Safety regulations that all screen users should receive company-funded eyecare and glasses, if required solely for DSE use. The fact that around half of employees state they do not receive such eyecare does not, however, necessarily mean it is not being provided.
‘Communication is key here and it is vital that employers make employees aware of their entitlement and any eyecare that is available. In fact, it is even part of the DSE regulations that employers must not only fund eyecare but also communicate entitlement.’
The research went on to also survey over 500 senior HR decision makers at UK companies. Of these, 41% said they were concerned about employees’ eyesight as a result of their use of display screen equipment in their working role.
