Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Assessor Training

In the most recent year for which figures are available (2024/25), more than 500,000 workers in Great Britain were affected by work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), resulting in 7.1 million working days lost.

Along with MSDs, working with display screen equipment can be a significant contributor to eye fatigue, headache and mental stress. These health hazards have the potential to cause short-term or long-term chronic conditions if not taken care of properly.

Your Responsibilities Under Display Screen Equipment Regulations

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 which place a legal duty on employers to protect their staff from this hazard. A failure to do so can result in significant fines.

These duties apply to anyone classed as a DSE ‘user’ – an employee who habitually uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work, typically for continuous periods of an hour or more. As an employer, your core responsibilities under the regulations include:

• Carrying out a suitable and sufficient assessment of every DSE user’s workstation, and reducing any risks identified to the lowest extent reasonably practicable.
• Providing adequate health and safety training (under Regulation 6) so users understand the risks and how to work safely.
• Arranging and funding eye and eyesight tests on request, and providing glasses where they are needed specifically for DSE work.
• Ensuring users can take regular breaks or changes of activity to avoid prolonged, uninterrupted screen use.
• Keeping clear records of assessments and the actions taken, so progress can be reviewed and updated when anything changes.

Crucially, these responsibilities apply regardless of where your people work. Office-based, home-based, hybrid and mobile workers are all covered, so a habitual screen user working from home is entitled to the same protection as a colleague at a fixed office desk.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the regulations, and non-compliance can lead to improvement notices, prohibition notices and fines – making proactive management both a legal and a financial priority.

About DSE Assessor Training

This training begins with the essentials of display screen equipment and the role of the DSE assessor, the legislation and guidance behind DSE work, and why assessments are needed. It looks at the health risks of DSE use – eye fatigue, headaches, musculoskeletal disorders and mental stress – and the controls used to reduce them, including the particular considerations for remote workers, mobile devices and users with specific needs.

The course then turns to the practical side. It covers ergonomic best practice for posture, the upper limbs and screen position; the criteria for setting up a workstation, from seating and work surfaces to input devices, monitors and the wider environment; and how to plan, conduct, complete and record an assessment, whether face-to-face or online.

How This Training Benefits Your Organisation

Training your own staff to carry out DSE assessments brings benefits that extend well beyond meeting your legal obligations.

Having one or two competent assessors in-house gives your organisation the ability to manage screen-related risk both proactively and reactively – addressing problems before discomfort turns into injury, and responding promptly whenever a desk, role or workspace changes.

The benefits are felt right across the business:

• Documented assessments show that you are meeting your legal duties and provide valuable evidence if a concern or claim is ever raised.
• Catching musculoskeletal and eye-strain issues early helps prevent long-term sickness absence, reducing sick pay, cover costs and compensation claims.
• Employees who are comfortable and free from aches and fatigue can concentrate better and produce higher-quality work.
• A visible commitment to staff welfare strengthens trust, supports a positive health and safety culture, and helps you attract and keep good people.
• In-house assessors can deliver inductions for new starters, reassess workstations whenever something changes, and resolve concerns promptly – freeing up managers and health and safety personnel.

For most organisations, training one or two in-house assessors is a practical and proportionate step that supports a healthier, more comfortable workforce while helping to control risk and cost.