Would your DSE compliance survive a home visit? For most HR teams, that’s an uncomfortable question. Home workstations rarely get checked at all. And with more than a quarter of workers now splitting their week between home and the office, that’s a lot of desks, dining tables and sofas you’ve never actually seen – and a lot of DSE risk you’re still legally responsible for.
Yet the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 haven’t changed: if your staff regularly use screens as part of their role – wherever they’re based – your obligations follow them home. Here’s what that means in practice and how to manage it.
What poor workstation setup can end up costing you
An estimated 511,000 UK workers were suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder in 2024/25 (HSE), and this contributed to a loss of 7.1 million working days. Upper limb and neck conditions – exactly the kind a badly set-up screen or chair makes worse – account for 41% of those cases. Scale this down to your own headcount and the importance of DSE compliance becomes more than just a statistic.
Importantly: none of this is inevitable. Most of it comes down to two things: whether a workstation’s actually been assessed, and whether the person using it knows what a good setup looks like.
Who counts as a DSE user?
Before you can fix either of those gaps, you need to know who counts as a DSE user. Regulations define this as someone who uses display screen equipment habitually as a significant part of their normal work. This includes monitors, laptops, tablets and smartphones – anything that’s used regularly throughout the working day.
In practice, this covers most desk-based roles: administrators, customer service staff, finance teams, developers and HR professionals.
The regulations don’t apply to workers who use screens occasionally or for short, infrequent periods, but most roles that involve regular computer use will meet the threshold. If you’re unsure, the HSE’s guidance is a reliable starting point.
What the law requires
Once you’ve identified your DSE users, the regulations set out four main duties:
- Carry out a workstation assessment for each user, identifying risks and recording the findings.
- Reduce any risks identified so far as is reasonably practicable.
- Provide information and workstation safety training for staff, so users understand the risks and how to set up their equipment safely.
- Offer eye tests on request and provide corrective appliances if a test shows these are needed specifically for screen work.
That last point catches employers off-guard. You don’t need to fund designer glasses – only basic frames and lenses required for DSE work, if a standard eye test confirms they’re necessary.
For most employers, the real legal risk lies in the assessment and training duties. Many organisations have a policy on paper but no evidence of individual assessments or training completion. If an employee later makes a claim for a DSE-related injury, that gap in your records could count against you.
What a proper workstation assessment covers
This is where a lot of assessments fall short. A compliant workstation assessment isn’t a quick glance at whether someone has an adjustable chair. It should cover:
- Chair: height, back support, seat depth and footrest, if needed.
- Screen: height, distance, angle, brightness and absence of glare.
- Desk: enough space to allow a flexible arrangement of equipment without forcing awkward postures.
- Keyboard and mouse: position, tilt and space to rest wrists comfortably.
- Lighting: no direct light sources causing glare on the screen.
- Breaks: whether the work pattern allows for regular rest or changes of activity.
- Software and task design: whether the setup contributes to fatigue or strain.
The HSE provides a free workstation checklist that clearly outlines all this. Employees can complete a self-assessment using this checklist – provided they’ve been given appropriate training to do so reliably.
That last point matters. A self-assessment tool is unlikely to provide a sufficient assessment of the workstation and may not demonstrate compliance if challenged.
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The remote and hybrid working problem
Here’s where many HR teams have an acknowledged gap. The DSE Regulations apply equally to home and remote workers as they do to office-based staff. The HSE is unambiguous on this.
That means every remote DSE user needs a proper workstation assessment covering their home setup. Not just the equipment you issued – it’s also their furniture, lighting and working environment. And those assessments need to be repeated when circumstances change: a new role, a new home, or a reported injury.
The good news is that, in most cases, you don’t need to visit a home worker’s property to assess them. A self-assessment approach is acceptable under the regulations, as long as workers have been properly trained to carry it out. That’s where online display screen equipment awareness training earns its place: it closes the training gap that makes self-assessments legitimate, rather than just convenient.
When to repeat an assessment
DSE assessments aren’t a one-and-done exercise. You should review them when:
- A new employee joins who meets the definition of a DSE user.
- An existing user moves to a new workstation or location, including a new home setup.
- There’s a significant change in how work is done – new software, new tasks, new equipment.
- An employee reports discomfort – pain, stiffness, or visual difficulties linked to screen work.
- The working environment changes significantly – for example, an office move or major refurbishment.
Build these triggers into your onboarding process and your return-to-work procedures, and you’ll avoid the most common compliance gap: the assessment that was done once, filed, and never revisited.
Managing DSE assessment training online – without the admin headache
The practical challenge isn’t understanding the regulations – it’s delivering DSE training for employees across a dispersed workforce at scale. Sending staff a generic PDF doesn’t constitute training. And tracking who’s done it, when, and whether it was understood is another problem altogether.
Online DSE assessment training solves both. Employees complete it in their own time, on any device. Completion is tracked automatically, giving you an audit trail that demonstrates compliance without manual chasing. For new starters, it slots neatly into onboarding as a standard step. For existing staff, it’s easy to assign and monitor without adding pressure to an already full HR workload.
The key is consistency. Everyone who meets the definition of a DSE user – wherever they work – should complete the training and have their workstation assessed. That assessment needs to be on record. That’s what compliance actually looks like.
Get this right and you’re not just closing a compliance gap – you’re closing the gap behind those absence figures too.
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Staff Skills academy+ gives your team access to 750+ CPD-certified courses – including the Display Screen Equipment Awareness Certification. Start a free 14-day trial today, or speak to our team about what works for your organisation.
Please note: This article provides general information about employment law changes and isn’t intended as legal advice. Employers should seek appropriate legal or HR advice about how the requirements apply to their individual circumstances.
