§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many employees in her Department who regularly use computers have taken up the provision of a free eye test; and how this service is advertised to(a) current and (b) new staff. [36698]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, effective January 1993, require employers to provide and pay for, upon request from an employee, an eye and eyesight test. There is a requirement for further tests at regular intervals; the optometrist doing the first test can recommend when the next one should be. In addition, employers must pay the cost of special spectacles required where normal ones cannot be used.
This facility is published on the Department's intranet and within its staff handbook.
Information is not held centrally by my department on the number of employees who have taken up this provision and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.