DSE Users

Who is a user?

Regulation 1(2)(d) defines the employees who are covered as users. Regulations 2 to 7 apply to protect users, whether they are employed to work:

• at their own employer's workstation
• at a workstation at home
• at another employer's workstation.

A combination of factors determine who is at risk which makes it almost impossible to lay down hard-and-fast rules for who is and who isn't. However it will generally be appropriate to classify the person concerned as a user or if they:

• Normally use DSE for continuous or near-continuous spells of an hour or more at a time
• Use DSE in this way more or less daily
• Have to transfer information quickly to or from the DSE
• Apply high levels of attention and concentration in a DSE environment
• Are highly dependent on DSE or have little choice about using it
• Need special training or skills to use the DSE

Not all employers may wish to analyse each job to decide whether the person doing it is a user (or operator). Therefore it is recommended that all staff who have access to DSE be treated as users.

Jobs that are almost certainly 'users':

• Word processing worker
• Secretary or typist
• Data input operator
• News sub-editor
• Journalist
• Telesales/customer complaints/accounts enquiry/directory enquiry operator
• Microelectronics assembly or testing operative
• Television editing technician
• Security control room operative
• Air traffic controller
• Financial dealer
• Graphic designer
• Librarian