Display screen equipment (DSE) - workstation assessment

Whenever a new employee starts working with you or there are significant changes to the working environment, you should undertake a workstation assessment. You should also do this if an employee reports health problems they think are related to using the workstation.

DSE questionnaire

The HSE recommends that users are fully involved in the assessment of their workstation under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations (as amended) 2002. In fact, it recommends that you start with a questionnaire for staff to complete their own initial assessment. Our Display Screen Equipment (DSE) - Workstation Assessment is designed so that you can issue it to each employee and then review the results. The employee works through a series of questions which they can answer with a simple tick.

A money-saving device

Unfortunately, many questionnaires are poorly drafted with the result that you end up offering employees a variety of items which they don’t need, such as wrist rests and document holders. With this in mind, our questionnaire is worded so that items are only made available to employees if they are really necessary. Following an introductory section that explains how to use the form, it’s broken down into a series of eight sub-sections. These ask questions on the different elements, such as the set up of the workstation, the chair and the work environment.