Workstation Assessment: The 12 Checks That Matter
Most organisations run workstation assessments as a self-completed questionnaire. The employee ticks boxes, the form is filed, and the process is considered done.
That is not what the regulation asks for, and the gap shows up in a specific way: assessments that record a compliant workstation for somebody who is uncomfortable, and organisations that cannot say what they actually changed as a result of any of it.
Regulation 2 of the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 requires a suitable and sufficient analysis of workstations, for the purpose of assessing the health and safety risks to the people using them. Regulation 4 requires the employer to plan activity so that daily work at a screen is periodically interrupted by breaks or changes of activity, and the Schedule sets out minimum requirements covering the equipment, the environment and the interface between the two.
Twelve checks, what each is actually for, and where they fail in the way people now work.
1. Screen height and distance
The check that resolves the most complaints.
The top of the screen should sit at or slightly below eye level, at roughly an arm's length, positioned so the head is neutral rather than tilted up or dropped forward.
Where it fails: laptops. A laptop screen used directly is always too low, because the screen and keyboard are fixed together. That single fact is the origin of a large share of neck and shoulder discomfort in modern offices, and it is entirely fixable.
2. Screen image, glare and reflection
The Schedule addresses the characteristics of the display and requires that the screen be free of reflective glare and that lighting be appropriate.
Where it fails: screens positioned facing or backing onto windows, and glossy screens in bright open-plan floors. The test is to sit in the seat and look, which is why a remote questionnaire misses it.
3. The keyboard
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The Schedule requires a keyboard that is tiltable and separate from the screen, with sufficient space in front of it to provide support for the hands and arms.
Read that provision against a laptop. A laptop keyboard is not separate from the screen, which means an assessment recording a compliant setup for somebody working on a bare laptop has recorded something that is not the case.
4. Mouse and input devices
Positioned close to the body so the arm is not extended, at the same height as the keyboard, with the wrist straight and supported.
Where it fails: a mouse used beyond a large keyboard's number pad, which forces sustained arm abduction. A compact keyboard is frequently the cheapest ergonomic intervention available.
5. The chair
The Schedule requires the work chair to be stable, to allow easy freedom of movement and a comfortable position, with adjustable seat height and an adjustable backrest in both height and tilt, with a footrest available on request.
Adjustable is only useful if adjusted. The most common finding in any real assessment is a fully adjustable chair that nobody has ever adjusted, because nothing explained how.
6. Desk space and surface
The Schedule requires a sufficiently large, low-reflectance work surface allowing flexible arrangement of the screen, keyboard, documents and related equipment, with adequate space for a comfortable position.
Where it fails: desks reduced in size during a densification project, and hot desks where the useable area is smaller than it appears because of docking equipment and cable management.
7. Posture, feet and support
The check that ties the previous ones together, because posture is an outcome of the equipment rather than an instruction to the person.
Feet flat on the floor or on a footrest, thighs roughly horizontal, forearms roughly horizontal, lower back supported.
"Sit up straight" is not a control. If somebody's feet do not reach the floor once their chair is at the correct height for the desk, the answer is a footrest, not a reminder.
8. Laptops and docking
Not a Schedule item, and in practice the single most consequential check in a modern organisation.
A laptop used as a primary machine needs a riser or separate screen, plus a separate keyboard and mouse. That is the arrangement that makes points one and three achievable at all.
Where it fails: hybrid working. The person has a dock at the office and a bare laptop at home, so half their week is spent in the configuration the regulation is written to prevent. Equipment issued to the person rather than fixed to a desk resolves most of this.
9. Multiple screens
Common now and rarely assessed properly.
Where two screens are used equally, they sit centrally with the join in front of the person. Where one is primary, that one sits directly in front and the secondary goes to the side. The failure is two screens placed symmetrically when one is used ninety per cent of the time, which produces sustained neck rotation.
For finance, trading and engineering roles running three or more screens, this needs assessing as a specific configuration rather than assumed.
10. Lighting
Appropriate lighting with satisfactory contrast between screen and background, and lighting arranged to prevent glare and reflection.
Where it fails: uniform overhead lighting with no task lighting, and floors where lighting was designed before the desks were rearranged. Requirements vary considerably between individuals, which is an argument for adjustable task lighting rather than a single specification.
11. Noise, heat and humidity
The Schedule addresses the wider environment, requiring that noise from equipment does not distract attention or disturb speech, that equipment does not produce excess heat causing discomfort, and that humidity is established and maintained at an adequate level.
These are treated as facilities matters and belong in the assessment. A workstation in the direct path of a vent, adjacent to a busy walkway, or next to a poorly ventilated equipment area is a workstation issue.
12. Software, work routine and breaks
The two checks most often omitted, and the Schedule and regulation 4 both address them.
The Schedule requires software to be suitable for the task and easy to use, adaptable to the user's level of knowledge, and provides that no quantitative or qualitative checking facility may be used without the worker's knowledge. That last provision is directly relevant to monitored and metric-driven work.
Regulation 4 requires work to be planned so that screen work is periodically interrupted by breaks or changes of activity. HSE's guidance on work routine covers this. Short, frequent changes are more effective than occasional long ones, and back-to-back scheduled meetings for eight hours is the arrangement that defeats it.
The twelve, in short
| Check | Most common failure |
|---|---|
| Screen height and distance | Bare laptop |
| Image and glare | Facing or backing a window |
| Keyboard | Not separate from the screen |
| Mouse | Reaching past a full-size keyboard |
| Chair | Adjustable, never adjusted |
| Desk space | Reduced by densification or docking gear |
| Posture and feet | Treated as instruction, not equipment |
| Laptops and docking | Docked at the office, bare at home |
| Multiple screens | Symmetrical when one dominates |
| Lighting | Uniform overhead, no task light |
| Noise, heat, humidity | Treated as facilities, not workstation |
| Software and breaks | Omitted entirely |
Rows one, three and eight are the same problem in three forms, and one riser plus a keyboard and mouse resolves all of them.
What makes an assessment suitable and sufficient
Three things, and none is the form.
Somebody competent looks. A self-completed questionnaire is a useful screening tool and it is not an analysis. It identifies who needs a proper look; it does not replace it.
It produces provision. An assessment recording that a footrest is needed, followed by no footrest, has documented a known unmet need. Provision is the control; the record is evidence of it.
It reflects where the work happens. For hybrid staff that means home and office. For hot deskers it means the configurations they actually use. Our DSE assessment service covers the arrangement rather than the desk.
For international employers
The British requirements derive from a European directive, and the Schedule above will look familiar across the European Union. What differs is the mechanism.
Several jurisdictions covered in this series route screen work through occupational health rather than through a self-assessment. Estonia includes display screen work among the factors triggering mandatory health checks, alongside work in a constantly forced posture. Lithuania includes it within its regulatory framework with health checks driven by risk assessment results. Finland delivers the equivalent through compulsory occupational health care, with a workplace survey that can be extended to examine ergonomics specifically. Mexico applies a dedicated standard to the conditions of the place where telework is performed.
A group running one questionnaire across every entity therefore satisfies the British position and leaves gaps elsewhere. Holding assessments, provision and review dates across every entity in one register is where health and safety consultants and software are worth more together than either alone, and periodic health and safety audits establish whether what was assessed was ever provided.
Where Arinite fits
Arinite assesses workstations as they are actually used, which in a hybrid organisation means more than one setup per person. We support 1,500+ businesses across 50+ countries and protect 100,000+ employees, with 95%+ client retention over 15+ years. Our health and safety consultants work extensively with finance and banking, IT and software and legal organisations, where effectively the entire workforce meets the user definition and multi-screen configurations are the norm.
Where offices span several countries, our global health and safety consultants establish whether each jurisdiction expects an assessment, a health check, or both, and our international health and safety consultants keep that current. HSE's display screen equipment guidance covers the British baseline.
If your assessments are questionnaires and you could not say what was provided as a result, a free gap analysis is the right place to start.
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Written by
Arinite Health & Safety Consultants
Health & Safety Expert at Arinite
