Hi guys. Well I basically wanted to put my story out there and get a few opinions on what I should do about my job/eyesight. I work in an office sitting infront of two monitors al day. My eye sight has been getting worse I feel, and annoyingly my bosses don't appear to give a stuff about it. I do a bit of grahics and other stuff helping prepare for the launch of a website. The office is no more than about 9x9ft, but stupidly they put in 8 flourecent tubes in. They're not big, but have been hurting my eyes allot in the past year. What I've done is had 6 of them taken out last week. I alwasy had my monitors on at about 25% brightness, but now at 0%. The reason for this was because I was getting dry and very sore eye's and it was getting a bit painful to watch the screens. Now I'm at the point were I'm finding it hard to focus on text, so it's annoying since I had 20x20 vision 3 years ago the last time I was tested. My eyesight has been good for year. Personaly I don't want to get glasses. I don't think they are the best solution. If my eyesight was fading with old ages then fair enough, but as I'm 26 I feel my eyesight is supposed to be fine. What can I do? What advice is our there guys, or what do you do in your jobs to cope with this. Any answers would bre realy welcomed and appreciated. It's just something that would be the straw that broke the camels back on this job, so I feel at the point of leaving, but as there's no jobs out there at the mo that I can see, I think I'll be here a while longer!
Do you have a health and safety officer at work (if your company employs a certain number of people then they have to have one by law in the UK). If so explain the situation to him he can do a risk assessment and if he decides its necessary he can insist the lightening be changed and/or that you get an anti glare monitor screen which would/may also help.
Go and see an optician and see what they say. Your employer should at least cover the test fee, especially since your symptoms are, as you say, caused by your working conditions.
Follow Ryu's advice. Your boss will not actively seek to make sure his employees are in 100% good health if it means he/she has to spend money to do so. However, he does have to follow advice given by a health and safety officer. If a risk assessment produces evidence that you're environment is dangerous to your well-being and the boss doesn't implement new equipment and procedures for working that are suggested, he is in for a world of hurt. Always go through your Health and Safety Officer, because it is also in his interest to do a risk assessment of every piece of equipment you use. If you are injured and there has been no assessment done, you will certainly receive compensation. EDIT: And for now, be sure to take frequent breaks.
You're over due a test anyway - You should really get your eyes checked every two years, especially since you extensivley use computer monitors every day. Supposed to be fine? Supposed and actually are very different things - you say your eyes hurt? They're telling you something isn't fine. Get advice from an optician. It could be all sorts of things. Besides, even if you do need glasses (which you may - whilst age may be a contributing factor later on, it not the only thing that leads to detriorating eyesight - I've been wearing glasses since I was 7), it's not the end of the world. You can always try contacts. If you're still stubborn about seeing a professional about it , I'd make sure that you where taking plenty of breaks. Don't use the monitor for more than 20-30 mins at a time, don't keep a rigid focus on it. Look around the room, go for a coffee / walk etc - looking at the same point will strain your eyes just as much as poor lighting. One more thing - Does your office have air conditioning? That drys the air out, and can cause irritation to your eyes. Try some eye drops.
I wish we did have. Sadly this is not the case. I don't know if my company (shamefully a Christain company I should ad) have any healthy and safety about anything really. But this is my problem. They are not willing to comply, or care as long as they have progress made in buisness. Yes, they are "nice guys", but stingy too boot. I work in a warehouse and the staff full time would be around 10 people max.
Our workplace really push for the "20x20x20" rule: Every 20 minutes, look away from you monitor and look at something at least 20 metres away for at least 20 seconds. You can do this by going for a walk, do a different task that requires you to get up from your desk or go get yourself a drink. It doesn't haven't to be a strict rule, the idea is to relax your eyes after staring at you're VDU so varying the distances you are trying to focus at helps this. I know you don't want to get glasses but Donald & Atkinson have an offer at the moment for a free eye test and £50 off a pair of glasses over £100.
Thanks, yes I feel we would fail every test there is tbh. Health is not a consideration in my workplace, and the reason is selfishness from were I'm sitting. I'll be taking more frequent breaks too.
Right, well this is all new to me. I'll try bringing that up with the boss. For sure I'll be taking more screen breaks.
Bad lighting can be a big cause, it's the reason my mum has to wear glasses. But if your eyes hurt, you'll do more damage and be more uncomfortable in the long run if you don't have them tested and get glasses, you're jsut straining them for no reason. get 'em checked out, then berate your boss! (i know you shouldn't have to but perhaps take a normal desk light in and use that to light your desk and keep the flouro's off?) RwD
Yea, I know what you mean. I wore glasses as a child, but I started refusing them as didnt want them. My eyesight went to normal a year or so later. No ac, but it can be dry. I don't think I blink as much as I used to being in front of the screen. Maybe thats it too.
The VDU legislation is EU wide so they are bound by it. You need to read up on "EU Directive 90/270" as it concerns VDU work.
Not sure if this information is 100% applicable where you live but like Atomic mentioned we are part of the EU so this might be some extra reading material as I always feel information is the best weapon against an employer. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/HealthAndSafetyAtWork/DG_10026668 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg36.pdf [PDF link]
Thanks mate. Much appreciated. It's N Ireland. I should really show that on my location as supposed to just Ireland.
Yeah if your eyes are starting to go wrong, leaving them will only make them no end worse. At 26 it's not unheard of for ones eyes to start losing their skillz a bit. Get to an optician asap. If you have caught it early and your eyes haven't gone too far, you can just get contacts.
Then the PDF link Red Eye posted will be more relevant as you will come under UK Legislation. Have a look at the VDU FAQ here http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/vdubreaks.htm Your work should have someone who looks after H&S if it's more than just a handful of staff. If you work on a VDU allday then your employer must provide eye tests for you. The Health and Safety Executive site will tell you everything you want to know.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's posted on this thread as all the info has been very useful. I have printed off a doc from the HSE link I was given by Atomic (thank you Atomic) and will be giving it to my bosses today. Hopefully they will be cooperate and not try to fob me off. I'll make sure they don't! I'll also let you guys know how I get on. thanks again.
