British soldiers have been encouraged to take 10-minute screen breaks every hour and use emojis in internal messages to combat stress under new health and safety guidance introduced by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) , according to a report.

The policies apply to UK-based service personnel and civilian defence staff, including those deployed on drone operations, cybersecurity defences, and intelligence analysis, The Times reported.

Military chiefs have ordered the measures in an effort to combat “visual fatigue and mental stress”, instructing managers to intervene directly if staff fail to step away from their workstations in addition to their standard lunch breaks.

Troops have also been advised to swap long-winded messages for concise updates accompanied by emojis to reduce strain.

The new guidance offers military personnel a range of advice to reduce strain, including encouraging the use of emojis (Getty)

The Independent has contacted the MoD for comment.

According to the new internal rulebook…