Although there is no fixed time between breaks or length of breaks stated in the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, the regulations do suggest that breaks should be ‘periodically’ taken. The regulations suggest that each person’s work should be designed to include a mix of tasks, some screen-based and some non-screen based, to allow natural breaks from concentrating on the screen, sitting in the same position or repetitive input work, for example.

Sometimes, due to the nature of your work, this is not possible, and in this case, deliberate breaks must be introduced.

We suggest as a minimum guideline at least 5 minutes in every hour should be spent away from the screen, but it’s also important to make sure you change posture regularly and refocus your eyes; doing some simple stretching exercises at your desk can be very useful too.

Try the 20-20-20 rule – every 20 minutes, look up from your screen at something about 20 feet away for about 20 seconds. This gives the muscles in your eyes a chance to relax.