Display Screen Equipment Regulations 1992, UK wide
DSE Assessments
Screen work rarely produces a dramatic injury. It produces neck pain, wrist trouble, headaches and eye strain that build quietly until someone goes off sick or raises a grievance. AL23 Safety assesses display screen equipment users in offices, at home and on hybrid patterns, for clients UK wide.
What is a DSE assessment?
A structured look at the person, the kit and the way the two fit together
A DSE assessment examines one user at one workstation. It records the chair, desk, screen, keyboard, pointing device, laptop arrangement, lighting, glare, cabling and space to move, then checks posture, reach and viewing distance against the Schedule to the Regulations. The output is a short list of changes with an owner and a date against each one.
The Regulations do not ask for an ergonomics thesis. They ask you to identify the risks a particular person faces, reduce them so far as reasonably practicable, then review the assessment when the workstation or the person changes.
Who needs one
The duty attaches to users, not to job titles
The Regulations bite where an employee is a user. A user is someone who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of normal work. The practical indicator HSE applies is daily use for continuous periods of an hour or more. Self-employed people working on your premises count as operators and are treated much the same way.
- Staff who work at a screen daily for continuous spells of an hour or more.
- Employees who work at home permanently or on a long term basis.
- Hybrid workers, whose home setup and office setup both need assessing.
- Anyone reporting discomfort in the neck, shoulders, back, arms, wrists or eyes.
- New and expectant mothers and workers with a condition affecting posture, vision or reach.
- Hot desks, touchdown benches and shared laptop docks where nothing is adjusted between users.
The regulations that apply
Your legal framework, in plain terms
The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, as amended in 2002, sit under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and run alongside the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. The Display Screen Equipment Regulations set out what you assess and what you provide. The Management Regulations require the wider risk assessment and the arrangements that keep it current. HSE guidance L26 explains how an inspector reads the whole package.
Regulation 2. Assess and review
Carry out a suitable and sufficient analysis of each user's workstation and review it when the workstation or the user changes.
Regulation 3. Workstation requirements
Every workstation must meet the Schedule requirements covering display, keyboard, work surface, chair, space, lighting, reflections, noise and heat.
Regulation 4. Breaks and changes of activity
Plan the work so that daily screen use is periodically interrupted by breaks or changes of activity. Short frequent pauses work better than one long break.
Regulation 5. Eye and eyesight tests
Provide a test on request, at regular intervals afterwards and where a user reports visual difficulty. Where special corrective appliances are needed for the display screen work, you fund the basic appliance.
Regulations 6 and 7. Training and information
Users are trained before they start and again where a workstation is substantially modified. They are also told what the Regulations require of you.
What we assess
The kit, the posture and both places people work
- Screen position, height and viewing distance, including second screens and how far a user turns their neck to reach them.
- Laptop use and docking, including whether a separate keyboard and mouse are in place where the laptop is the main machine.
- Chair adjustment as actually used, seat height against desk height, lumbar support, armrest interference and footrest need.
- Keyboard and pointing device position, wrist posture and grip, plus alternative devices where a standard mouse is producing symptoms.
- Glare, reflections, window orientation, blinds and task lighting judged from the seated eye position.
- Task design, total screen hours in a typical day, call patterns and where natural breaks already occur.
- Reported symptoms, how they vary through the week and any existing occupational health advice.
- Eye and eyesight test arrangements, who funds what and how a request is actually made.
- Home setups, including the surface and seat in use, heating, lighting and whether the room supports sustained work seated.
- Hybrid arrangements, with both locations assessed rather than only the one that is easiest to reach.
Our process
Self assessment for most, a specialist for the rest
- 01
Enquiry and scoping
We agree who counts as a user, how many sites and homes are in scope and which people need an individual assessment rather than a self assessment.
- 02
Self assessment round
We issue a checklist and short training to the wider population, then chase and triage the returns. This is the approach HSE accepts for most homeworkers and hybrid workers.
- 03
Individual assessments
We assess in person or by video for symptomatic users, complex setups, adjustment cases and anyone the triage flags. Adjustments are made on the spot wherever possible.
- 04
Report and actions
We issue the records with a prioritised action list, separating free adjustments from items that need purchase. We specify equipment where purchase is justified.
- 05
Review and refresh
We set the review triggers, retest after significant change and fold the programme into your wider health and safety audits so it does not drift.
What you get
Records you can reissue and fixes you can action
- A completed workstation assessment record for every user assessed, in a format you can reissue at review.
- A prioritised action list naming the change, the owner and a target date.
- An equipment specification where new kit is justified, written so procurement can buy the right thing first time.
- A DSE policy and procedure covering users, homeworkers, hybrid workers, eye test requests and record retention.
- Optional user training that leaves people able to adjust their own workstation without waiting for a consultant.
What we need from you
A user list and access to a sample
- A list of screen users with location, role and typical daily screen hours.
- Access to a sample of workstations or to the users themselves for a remote session.
- Your current DSE checklist, policy and any completed assessments.
- Details of your eye test arrangements and any voucher or optician scheme already running.
- Names of anyone currently reporting symptoms or working under an occupational health recommendation.
Why AL23 Safety
Adjustment first, purchase only where it is justified
Accountable
Where a workstation does not comply we say so clearly and set out the fix. We do not close an assessment by ticking a box.
Practical, not just compliant
Most screen problems are solved by adjustment and habit rather than purchase. We tell you which is which before you spend money on chairs.
One team, three disciplines
Health and safety, fire safety and fire engineering in-house. An office move gets desk layout, escape routes and fire strategy looked at together.
UK wide
We assess users across the UK, including homeworkers a long way from your main office. We can carry the whole programme inside a health and safety retainer.
Sort the desks before they turn into sick notes
A short conversation is usually enough to size this
Tell us how many screen users you have and where they sit. We will tell you what a sensible programme looks like and what you can do yourselves.
Common questions
Answers, up front
Cannot see your question? Get in touch and we will answer it directly.
Contact usNo. The duty applies to users, meaning people who habitually use display screen equipment as a significant part of normal work. The indicator HSE uses is daily use for continuous periods of an hour or more. Someone checking email twice a day is not a user.
Yes for employees who work at home permanently or long term and for hybrid workers. They do not apply to people using display screen equipment at home only occasionally or for short periods. For a hybrid worker you must assess both the home setup and the office setup.
In most cases no. HSE accepts self assessment supported by training and a checklist such as CK1. That is where the honest limitation sits. A checklist gathers information. It does not discharge the duty. Someone competent still has to read the returns, act on the flags and record the outcome.
You provide an eye and eyesight test when a user asks for one, at regular intervals after that and where a user reports visual difficulty linked to screen work. If the test shows that special corrective appliances are needed specifically for display screen work, you fund a basic appliance. You do not fund a general prescription or upgraded frames.
Cost is driven by the number of users, how many need an individual assessment rather than a self assessment, how many sites and homes are involved and whether training and policy work are included. An individual assessment usually takes half an hour to 45 minutes per person. A self assessment round across a whole office is typically issued, chased and reviewed inside two to three weeks. Send us headcount and locations for a figure.
Often, yes. Someone working alone at home most of the week also sits inside the scope of a lone worker risk assessment, covering welfare, mental health and how you would know if they were taken ill.
Related services