DSE Assessment: the Workstation, in Working Form

Work the assessment below: the workstation items, the pass or fail per item, and the tool writes the recommendations from the fails — the screen height, the chair, the desk, the lighting, the break pattern. Set the user, the workstation, the assessor and the date, and print the signed assessment.

How to use the tool

1. Set the user, the workstation ID, the assessor and the date — the assessment header
2. Work the screen — the distance, the top of the screen at or below eye level, the glare, the resolution and the text size
3. Work the chair and the desk — the adjustability, the height, the support, the knee clearance
4. Work the environment — the lighting (the lux, the glare, the contrast), the room temperature, the noise
5. Read the recommendations — the tool builds the action list from the fails; assign owners and dates, and print the signed assessment

Worked example

A two-person office. The primary workstation fails on the screen (top of screen 15 cm above eye level — the neck flexion is the complaint), the chair (no lumbar, the height fixed), and the lighting (the window glare on the screen at midday, the 420 lux on the desk against the 500 target). The recommendations: the monitor arm to bring the top of the screen to eye level (owner the IT, this week), the adjustable chair (procurement, this month), the blind or the screen reposition (this week), the lighting to 500 lux on the task (the electrician, next month). The breaks are the pass — the 15 minutes every two hours is in the rota and the user confirms it. Four actions, one page, the assessment printed and the review date a year out, or the change of workstation, whichever first.

Standard & legal context

The UK Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1998 require the workstation assessment — the DSE assessment — where display screen equipment is used regularly or professionally, the user assessment where the user reports the strain, and the breaks. The ergonomics reference is the HSE screen guidance, with the ISO 9241 (ergonomics of human-system interaction) family as the standard. In the US, the OSHA ergonomic provisions and the NIOSH workstation guidance carry the equivalent practice. The checklist below is the UK DSE Regulations structure with the ISO 9241 ergonomics.

Common mistakes

1. Assessing the equipment and not the user — the DSE Regulations require the user assessment (the strain, the eyesight, the medical) as well as the workstation, and the two together are the assessment
2. One assessment for the room — each workstation is assessed; the shared room with the different screens and the different users is several assessments
3. The chair as the only fix — the screen, the desk, the lighting and the breaks are separate items, and the neck complaint is usually the screen, not the chair
4. No review — the assessment is reviewed on the change of the workstation, the user, or the complaint, and at a set interval; the static assessment in the static room is the one that fails

What Features Should a DSE Chair Have? (the Checklist)

The chair that is suitable for DSE work has five features, and the HSE assessment checks each: the height adjustment (the feet flat, the knees at 90); the tilt and the tension (the back supported, the movement free); the lumbar support (the lower back held, the posture natural); the arm support (the shoulders relaxed, the wrists neutral); and the castors (the movement smooth, the floor protected). The chair that is missing the adjustment is the chair that is not a chair for the DSE — it is a seat, and the assessment says so. The workstation checklist on this tool runs the chair, the screen, the desk, the lighting, the keyboard, and the breaks — the same list for the office and the home office.

DSE Workstation Assessment (the Self Assessment, Online)

The DSE assessment can run as the formal one — the competent person, the workstation by workstation, the record and the action — or as the self assessment, the one the user runs on the checklist and the supervisor reviews. The self assessment is the habit that keeps the workstation honest between the formal assessments: the screen at the right distance, the top of the screen at or below the eye level, the document holder in use, the lighting without the glare, the break on the timer. The tool on this page runs the full checklist — the screen, the chair, the desk, the lighting, the breaks — printable for the formal one, online for the self assessment, and the HSE display screen equipment regulations are the law behind both.