We live in an era in which the use of digital devices has become a vital part of our lives.
We use them for work, studying, and relaxing, from morning to late at night, and this means that our screen-time increases almost every day. And it’s not only office workers who use them; the more manual professions use them frequently too.
We constantly change from laptop to smartphones, tablets to flat screens and everything in between.
Research has shown that many people spend between eight and ten hours per day looking at a screen. Ten to fifteen years ago, these figures were much lower.
Use of digital media
Source: Captain Cook Research, Digital behaviour and digital eye strain, April 2017 Netherlands.
Looking at a screen, close up, requires more effort.
Our screens are positioned at an arm's length and this means that our eyes have to strain to focus properly. Looking into the distance relaxes our eyes. Looking at a screen requires a long-term focusing effort.
Blue light keeps us awake.
Digital devices emit blue light as well as high energy visible light (HEV). This blue light is also present in daylight and helps us to stay awake. Excessive exposure, however, can have negative effects on our eyes and our sleep patterns.
The better the quality of the screen, the more blue light it produces. That is why you are advised against looking at your screen just before bedtime, as it will make it harder for you to fall asleep.
Max 2 hours as a guideline
More than two hours per day on a screen (or other tasks which are completed up close) can lead to the following symptoms:
- Tiredness, dry or burning eyes
- Fuzzy vision
- Headaches
- Loss of concentration
- Back, neck and shoulder problems
Constantly switching between various digital devices can make these symptoms worse as your eyes do not have a chance to relax.
Computer goggles
The solution to these complaints is a pair of computer goggles. Computer goggles are useful for any employee who works on a screen for two hours or more per day, who carries out tasks up close or suffers from eye tiredness.
Classic single-strength or progressive glasses offer less comfort in this context, as the viewing zones in these are not optimised for switching between different viewing distances.
Reading glasses are ideal for short distances.
Progressive glasses combine long-distance and short-distance but don’t support the interim vision which is precisely where the screen is located.
The lenses that Vandeputte uses for screen goggles are spectacle lenses based on your specific needs. Screen goggles are fitted to the worker and their specific working situation:
- Your age
From the age of 40, your close-up vision begins to deteriorate. But even if you do not yet need reading glasses, your eyes may need greater support. - Distance
Do you constantly change between close-up work and a screen (e.g. administrative tasks) or do you switch between looking at a screen to looking at a broader area (e.g. production environment, classroom...) - The type of screen (laptop, tablet, smartphone...)
1. Choose the right spectacles for your work situation
These offer a broad and clear view of the distance between your eyes, the screen and the space around you. There are three possible options:
- Close: for a job which requires precision, with short/mid-distance of up to a metre.
- Screen: for working at a screen and for jobs that require supple and sharp vision for up to two metres.
- Space: for activities where the focus is slightly further away than the computer screen. Offers a crystal-clear view at short distances and sharp focus to around four to six metres.
2. With or without blue light filter
Are you working on a screen for over 2 hours per day? Then we advise you to add a transparent coating that filters out the blue light.
This filter:
- Increases productivity
- Reduces head, back, neck and shoulder problems
- Prevents eye tiredness
- Improves viewing comfort
- Is water, grease and dirt-resistant
- Offers 100% UV protection
3. With or without correction
All our screen goggles can be provided with or without a correction.
So, it is no problem to include your correction in new screen goggles. Or maybe not, if you don’t (yet) need glasses in your everyday life.
4. As regular glasses or safety goggles
On the work floor, are you exposed to other risks? Then your screen goggles could also be made according to the valid norms for safety goggles.
Schedule a fitting for screen goggles
Allowance for screen goggles
In Belgium and the Netherlands, an employer will reimburse the costs for blue-light glasses if it has been established that these could help to combat the above complaints (H&S Act). If an employee needs reading glasses, and carries out work on a screen, he/she is also entitled to screen goggles. In France, a doctor's prescription is required. If the doctor says that blue-light glasses are necessary, the employer will reimburse the costs.
Screen goggles are not regarded as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) but as a medical device. This is because PPE offers protection against a risk to health or safety which applies to everyone. This is not the case with screen goggles unless everyone needs them.
Why work with Vandeputte with respect to screen goggles?
- Vandeputte has over 40 years of expertise in making customised safety and screen goggles.
- We offer a customised service which includes personal advice from our experts and measurements on site or via our local partner network. Our partner network includes over 300 qualified opticians located in Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
- We also offer the opportunity to have eye examinations carried out on site or at one of our 300 service partners.
- For our glasses, we work with glasses supplier Hoya®, who offers quality alongside the very latest technologies.
- All our glasses are made in our own optical/grinding studio in Puurs (Belgium).
- With Vandeputte, you have one single partner for screen goggles and safety goggles, whereby these can also be combined.
