DSE Assessments for Home and Hybrid Workers

Display screen equipment (DSE) assessments used to be something most employers only thought about for a desk in an office. Hybrid and home working changed that, and a lot of small businesses still haven't updated how they handle it. The legal duty under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 applies wherever a "DSE user" is working, including their kitchen table, whether that's part time or full time.

Who actually counts as a DSE user

Not everyone who occasionally looks at a screen is a DSE user in the legal sense. Someone counts as a user, and is owed a DSE assessment, if they use a computer, laptop, or similar equipment as a significant part of their normal work, generally meaning daily use, for continuous spells of an hour or more, where the work depends on the screen and needs a reasonable level of attention. Someone who checks emails on their phone for ten minutes doesn't meet this bar. Someone doing most of their working day on a laptop, in the office or at home, does.

What a home working DSE assessment needs to cover

The assessment doesn't change in principle just because the desk is at home rather than in an office, but it does need adapting to a space you can't necessarily inspect in person. It should cover:

  • The screen: height, distance, and whether it can be adjusted so the top of the screen is roughly at eye level
  • The chair: whether it gives proper back support and lets feet sit flat on the floor
  • The desk and work surface: enough space to work comfortably, without reaching or twisting
  • Keyboard and mouse: separate from a laptop screen where someone's working for long periods, so they're not hunched over a small built in keyboard
  • Lighting and glare: enough light to work by without reflections on the screen
  • Breaks: whether the person's work pattern allows for regular changes of posture and short breaks away from the screen

A lot of this can be gathered through a self assessment questionnaire that the employee fills in themselves, backed up by photos of their setup if there's any doubt, rather than a home visit.

The common home working gaps

The issues that come up again and again in home DSE assessments are laptops used on their own without a separate keyboard, mouse, or stand for weeks or months at a stretch, kitchen chairs or sofas used as a permanent desk chair, and screens positioned too low, forcing the neck to bend forward for hours at a time. None of these are dramatic on their own, but sustained over a working week they're a genuine cause of musculoskeletal problems, which is exactly what the regulations are there to prevent.

What employers are actually required to do once a need is identified

If a DSE assessment identifies a problem, the employer has to take reasonably practicable steps to fix it. For home workers this often means providing a laptop stand, a separate keyboard and mouse, or in some cases a proper monitor, rather than leaving the employee to sort it out with whatever they've got at home. Eye tests are also part of this: DSE users are entitled to request an eye and eyesight test paid for by their employer, and to have glasses paid for if they're needed specifically for DSE work.

Keep the assessment live, not a one off form

A DSE assessment done once when someone started working from home and never revisited isn't much use two years later, especially if their setup, health, or working pattern has changed. It's worth building a review into your process, whether that's annually or whenever someone's working arrangements change significantly, so it stays a genuine reflection of how people are actually working rather than a box ticked once and forgotten.

DSE is one piece of a wider small business obligation. It’s worth checking whether you need a written health and safety policy with under 5 employees and what a PPE risk assessment actually involves in plain English.

DSE assessments work best when they sit inside a wider health and safety policy rather than as a standalone form, so home and hybrid working is genuinely covered by your business's approach, not bolted on separately. If your policy hasn't caught up with how your team actually works now, I write UK health and safety policies for small businesses that cover exactly this. You can see what's included here.

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