Colour vision examination

A guide for occupational health providers

This document helps employers and their occupational health providers to choose the appropriate colour vision testing methods given the risks involved in the occupation.

In jobs where colour vision is important for safety critical purposes then colour vision testing is crucial in deciding on fitness for work. If colour vision needs are associated with product quality then testing is valuable to avoid costly errors.

The guidance describes a risk assessment-based approach to testing, which is important when deciding what the pass/fail criteria are where colour vision is a requirement of the job role.

It describes the different types of genetic and acquired colour vision deficiency as well as the different testing methods (Ishihara plate test, City University test, and the lantern test) used to identify them.