Display Screen Equipment Regulations, 2000.

L.N. 211 of 2000

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

(PROMOTION) ACT

(CAP. 367)

Minimum Health and Safety Requirements for Work with

Display Screen Equipment Regulations, 2000.

IN exercise of the powers conferred by articles 7 and 17 of

the Occupational Health and Safety (Promotion) Act, the Deputy

Prime Minister and Minister for Social Policy, in consultation with

the Commission for the Promotion of Occupational Health and

Safety, has made the following regulations

(1) The title of these Regulations is Minimum Health

and Safety Requirements for Work with Display Screen Equipment

Regulations, 2000.

(2)

These regulations shall come into force on the 1st July,

2001.

Minimum health and safety requirements for workstations and

display screen equipment

Preliminary comments

The obligations laid down in this Schedule shall apply in order

to achieve the objectives of these regulations and to the extent that the

components concemed are present at the workstation, and that the

inherent requirements or characteristics of the task do not preclude it.

Equipment

1. (a)

General comment

The use as such of the equipment must not be a source of risk

for workers.

(b)

Displ ay screen

The characters on the screen shall be well-defined and clearly

formed, of adequate size and with adequate spacing between the

characters and lines.

The image on the screen should be stable, with no flickering

or other forms of instability.

The brightness and, or the contrast between the characters and

the background shall be easily adjustable by the worker, and also

be easily adjustable to ambient conditions.

The screen must swivel and tilt easily and freely to suit the

needs of the worker.

It shall be possible to use a separate base for the screen or an

adjustable table.

The screen shall be free of reflective glare and reflections

liable to cause discomfort to the worker.

(c)

Keyboard

The keyboard shall be tiltable and separate from the screen so

as to allow the worker to find a comfortable working position

avoiding fatigue in the arms or hands.

The space in front of the keyboard shall be sufficient to

provide support for the hands and arms of the worker.

The keyboard shall have a matt surface to avoid reflective

glare.

The arrangement of the keyboard and the characteristics of

the keys shall be such as to facilitate the use of the keyboard.

The symbols on the keys shall be adequately contrasted and

legible from the design working position.

(d)

Work desk or work surface

The work desk or work surface shall have a sufficiently large,

low-reflectance surface and allow a flexible arrangement of the

screen, keyboard, documents and related equipment.

The document holder shall be stable and adjustable and shall

be positioned so as to minimise the need for uncomfortable head

and eye movements.

There shall be adequate space for workers to find

a

comfortable position.

(e)

Work chair

The work chair shall be stable and allow the operator easy

freedom of movement and a comfortable position.

The seat shall be adjustable in height.

The seat back shall be adjustable in both height and tilt.

A footrest shall be made available to anyone who wishes for

one.

2. Environment

(a)

Space requirements

The workstation shall be dimensioned and designed so as to

provide sufficient space for the worker to change position and vary

movements.

(b)

Lighting

Room lighting and, or spot lighting (work lamps) shall ensure

satisfactory lighting conditions and an appropriate contrast

between the screen and the background environment, taking into

account the type of work and the worker's vision requirements.

Possible disturbing glare and reflections on the screen or

other equipment shall be prevented by co-ordinating workplace

and workstation layout with the positioning and technical

charactetistics of the artificial light sources.

(c)

Reflections and glare

Workstations shall be so designed that sources of light, such

as windows and other openings, transparent or translucid walls,

and btightly coloured fixtures or walls cause no direct glare and, as

far as possible, no reflections on the screen.

Windows shall be fitted with a suitable system of adjustable

covering to attenuate the daylight that falls on the workstation.

(d)

Noise

Noise emitted by equipment belonging to any workstation shall

be taken into account.when a workstation is being equipped, with a

view in particular to ensuring that attention is not distracted and

speech is not disturbed.

(e)

Heat

Equipment belonging to any workstation shall not produce

excess heat which could cause discomfort to workers.

(f)

Radiation

All radiation with the exception of the visible part of the

electromagnetic spectrum shall be reduced to negligible levels from

the point of view of the protection of workers health and safety.

I

(g)

Humidity

An adequate level of humidity shall be established and

maintained.

3. Interface between computer and worker

In designing, selecting, commissioning and modifying software,

and in designing tasks using display screen equipment, the employer

shall take into account the following principles

(a)

software must be suitable for the task;

(b) software must be easy to use and, where appropriate,

adaptable to the level of knowledge or experience of the worker; no

quantitative or qualitative checking facility may be used without the

knowledge of the workers;

(c) systems must provide feedback to workers on the

perfOlmance of those systems;

(d) systems must display infOlmation in a fOlmat and at a pace

which are adapted to workers; and

(e) the plinciples of software ergonomics must be applied, in

pal1icular to human data processing

(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

reqUIres -

"Act" means the Occupational Health and Safety (Promotion)

Act;

"Director" means the Director responsible for Industrial and

Employment Relations;

"display screen equipment" means any alphanumeric or

graphic display screen, regardless of the display process involved;

"equipment" means display screen equipment;

"eye and eyesight test" means a test to determine the presence

and the nature of any def-.:cts of sight and the correction, remedy or

relief of any such defect by means of an optical appliance

prescribed on the basis of the determination;

"worker" includes a person who is not an employee but who

has been assigned work by an employer involving the habitual or

regular use of display screen equipment, as well as an employee

who uses display screen equipment at a workstation at home;

"workstation" means an assembly comprising

display screen equipment, whether or not

(a)

provided with a keyboard or input device and, or software

determining the operator/machine interface,

(b)

any optional accessories to the display screen

equipment,

(c)

any disk drive, telephone, modem, printer,

document holder, work chair, work desk, work surface or

other item peripheral to the display screen equipment, and

(d)

the immediate work environment around the

display screen equipment.

(2) In these regulations, words and expressions defined herein

shall have the same meaning as they have in the Act, and the

provisions of these regulations shall be read and construed in

conjunction with the Act.

These regulations shall not apply to or in relation to

drivers' cabs or control cabs for vehicles or machinery, display

screen equipment on board a means of transpOlt, display screen

equipment which is mainly intended for public use or operation,

pOltable systems which are not in prolonged use at a workstation,

calculators, cash registers or any equipment having a small data or

measurement. display required for direct use of the equipment,

typewriters of traditional design, of the type known as "typewriter

with window".

(1)

An employer shall identify all display screen

equipment and workstations used at his place of work for the

purposes of his undeltaking, and for such workstations and

equipment, the employer shall keep and adequately maintain a

record thereof, including the names of the person or persons using

the equipment, and of the measures taken to safeguard

occupational health and safety.

(2) For each workstation, an employer shall perfOlm

suitable and sufficient analysis for the purpose of assessing the

health and safety lisks to which persons are exposed in

consequence of that use, including any possible lisks to eyesight,

physical problems and problems of mental stress.

(3) Any assessment made by an employer in pursuance of

the foregoing shall be reviewed by the employer if there is reason

to suspect that it is no longer valid or if there has been a significant

change in the matters or circumstances to which it relates.

Where the assessment reveals a risk to health and safety,

an employer shall take appropriate measures to remedy the risks

found as far as reasonably practicable, taking account of the

additional and, or combined effects of the risks so found.

(1)

An employer shall ensure that any workstation or Conformity with

display screen equipment used for the first time after the 1st July, requirements.

2001, meets the minimum requirements laid down in the Schedule.

(2)

An employer shall ensure that workstations or display

screen equipment which are already in use before the 1st July, 2000,

shall be made to comply with the minimum requirements laid down in

the Schedule by the 1st January, 2002.

(1)

It shall be the duty of an employer to provide such

information and training to workers on all aspects of health and safety

relating to their workstation.

(2) In all cases, workers and their Health and Safety

Representatives, where these have been chosen, elected or otherwise

designated by an employer to represent workers on all matters

relating to occupational health and or safety, shall be informed of any

health and safety measure taken in compliance with these regulations.

(3) Every worker shall receive training in the use of the

workstation before commencing work and whenever the organization

of the workstation is substantially modi fied.

The employer must plan the worker's activities in such a

way that daily work on a display screen is periodically interrupted by

breaks or changes of activity, reducing the workload at the display

screen.

(1)

An employer shall consult and encourage the

participation of workers and, or their Health and Safety

Representatives, where these have been chosen, elected or otherwise

designated, on any measure which may substantially affect health and

safety, on the information requested to be given by virtue of, as well

as on the organisation and planning of the training referred to in,

regulation 7.

(2) Workers and, or their Health and Safety Representatives

shall have the right to make proposals to an employer on any matter

affecting health and safety which is related to the use of display

screen equipment

(1)

Workers shall be entitled to appropriate eye and

eyesight tests which shall be can'ied out by a person having the

necessary capabilities, before they become habitual or regular users

of display screen equipment, at regular intervals thereafter, and if

they experience visual difficulties which may be due to display screen

work.

(2) Workers shall be entitled to an ophthalmological

examination if the results of the test referred to in subregulation (1)

show that this is necessary.

(3) The Director General of the Health Division shall

determine the competence and the qualifications required in the case

of persons who will be carrying out eye and eyesight tests and

ophthalmological examinations.

(4) If the results of the test referred to in subregulation (1) or

of the examination referred to in subregulation (2) show that it is

necessary, and if nonnal corrective appliances cannot be used,

workers must be provided by the employer with special corrective

appliances, presclibed to correct vision defects at the viewing

distance or distances, used specifically for the display screen work

concemed and which are appropriate for the work concemed.

(5) A worker shall in no circumstances suffer any deduction in

wages or any loss of benefit, and shall not be liable for any expense,

in respect of any measure taken by the employer pursuant to these

regulati ons.

Any breach of any provision of these regulations shall be

deemed an offence.