Royal Decree 488/1997 sets the minimum a workstation with a screen must have. It protects the worker who uses a screen habitually and for a significant part of their normal work (article 2). A screen is any screen, text or graphic, whatever its technology.
How many hours is «a significant part»?
The rule gives no number of hours. The INSST technical guide (2021) explains that today it is very hard to draw that line with hours alone: what also counts is the attention the task needs, whether the system sets your pace, whether you can take breaks when you want and how serious mistakes are. It adds that it may be more practical to treat everyone who uses a screen in the company as a «worker».
What is left out (article 1.3)
- Driver's cabs of vehicles or machines and computer systems on board a means of transport.
- Systems mainly meant for the public (a cash machine, an information point).
- Laptops, but only if they are not used continuously at a workstation.
- Calculators, cash registers and equipment with a small data display.
Source: Real Decreto 488/1997, sobre trabajos con equipos que incluyen pantallas de visualización (work with display screen equipment; consolidated text, in Spanish), articles 1 and 2 · INSST, Guía técnica de pantallas de visualización (technical guide on display screens, 2021, in Spanish), comments on articles 1 and 2