Are Laptops covered under Health and Safety Legislation?

Do the Display Screen Equipment requirements of Chapter 5 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 apply to laptops?

Regulation 71 (d) states that “this Chapter does not apply to… portable display screen equipment not in prolonged use at a workstation”

Guide to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 Chapter 5 of Part 2: Display Screen Equipment says

“A laptop is not covered by these Regulations due to the fact that under these Regulations the keyboard shall be tiltable and separate from the screen so as to allow the user to find a comfortable working position which avoids fatigue in the arms or hands.

A laptop does not have a separate keyboard and a user should not work on the laptop directly for long periods of time.

It is recommended that a laptop should be connected to a separate monitor and keyboard. The workstation can then be assessed to record whether the workstation meets the requirements detailed in the Display Screen Equipment Regulation.

Other temporary laptop workstation set ups should be assessed to determine the usage of the laptop and to identify potential risks, however the user should not work of the laptop directly for long periods of time.”

FOR LAPTOPS IN DAILY USE

We provide a number of suitable laptop solutions where laptops are in everyday use.

These include laptop stands, external keyboards, laptop under desk storage, docking stations.

Changing the way laptop users use their laptops will bring about an ergonomic result.·

By adding an ergonomic mouse, an ergonomic keyboard along with a laptop stand the notebook user immediately has the laptop screen at the correct height and can place the keyboard and mouse in a comfortable position - reducing both neck and shoulder pain and back pain.