Display Screen Equipment (DSE) — Office and Van Workstation Rules for Trade Businesses (2026)

What Is DSE and Which Law Applies?

DSE stands for Display Screen Equipment — any device with a screen used for work. That includes desktop computers, laptops, tablets and, in many interpretations, smartphones used for prolonged work tasks. The relevant law is the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). These regulations sit on top of your general duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The regulations require employers to protect workers who use DSE daily, as a significant part of their normal work. The law calls these people "DSE users". The point of the rules is to prevent the musculoskeletal problems, eye strain, fatigue and stress that come from poorly set up workstations and long periods of unbroken screen work.

Trade firms overlook this because they picture a roof, a van or a building site — not a desk. But the office admin person who processes invoices all day, the estimator pricing jobs on a laptop, and the home-working bookkeeper all sit squarely inside these rules. The work being "back office" does not make it exempt.

Quick Reference: An Employer's Main DSE Duties

Who Counts as a DSE User?

Not everyone who touches a screen is a "user" in the legal sense. The regulations apply to people who use DSE daily, for an hour or more at a time, more or less continuously. The HSE looks at a combination of factors — frequency, duration, intensity and whether the person depends on the screen to do their job.

In a typical trade firm, the people most likely to count are:

• The office administrator who spends the working day on invoicing, scheduling, emails and supplier orders
• The estimator or quantity surveyor pricing jobs and producing quotes on a laptop for long stretches
• The bookkeeper or accounts person, whether in the office or working from home
• The owner, if you personally do hours of admin, quoting and VAT work at a desk each day

Someone who only checks email on a phone between jobs, or who uses a tablet to take photos and sign off work on site for a few minutes at a time, is unlikely to be a DSE user. The dividing line is regular, sustained, work-critical screen use — not occasional glances at a device.

What a DSE Workstation Assessment Covers

The core duty is to carry out a workstation risk assessment for each DSE user and then act on anything that needs fixing. For a small firm this does not need to be elaborate — the HSE publishes a free DSE workstation checklist that an admin person can work through in twenty minutes. The assessment looks at the whole workstation, not just the screen:

• Display screen: Is the text readable? Is the screen at a comfortable distance, roughly an arm's length away, with the top of the screen at or just below eye level? Is it free from glare and reflections?
• Keyboard and mouse: Is the keyboard separate and tiltable, allowing the user to keep wrists straight? Is the mouse positioned close, so the arm is not stretched?
• Desk and chair: Is there enough desk space? Is the chair adjustable for height, back support and, if needed, armrests? Can the user sit with feet flat on the floor or on a footrest, thighs roughly horizontal?
• Environment: Is lighting adequate without causing glare? Is noise at a comfortable level? Is the temperature and ventilation reasonable? Is there enough room to change posture?
• Software: Is the software suitable for the task and easy enough to use that it does not cause unnecessary stress or strain?

Where the assessment flags a problem — a wobbly chair, a laptop balanced on a pile of folders, a screen facing a bright window — you are expected to put it right. Most fixes are cheap: a proper adjustable chair, a separate keyboard and mouse, a monitor riser, a footrest or repositioning the desk away from glare.

Eye Tests and Glasses

DSE users are entitled to an eye and eyesight test, paid for by the employer, on request. They can also ask for one if they are experiencing visual difficulties they think are caused by their screen work. There is no fixed legal interval — the test should be provided when a user asks, and at regular intervals afterwards if the optician recommends it.

The glasses rule is the part most employers get wrong. You only have to pay for corrective appliances — glasses or lenses — that are needed specifically for DSE work, such as a pair prescribed for the intermediate distance of a computer screen. You do not have to pay for normal glasses that the user would need anyway for everyday life, even if they happen to wear them at the screen. If special DSE glasses are required, your contribution can be limited to a basic frame and lenses; you are not obliged to fund designer frames.

Homeworking, Laptops and Tablets

Your DSE duties follow the worker home. If your bookkeeper or admin person works from home for a significant part of the week and counts as a DSE user, you are responsible for the risks of their home workstation in the same way as the office. In practice this means a self-assessment — sending them the HSE checklist to complete and reviewing the answers — and providing equipment such as a separate keyboard, mouse or monitor riser where needed.

Laptops and tablets need particular attention. They are designed for short, portable use, not all-day desk work. When the screen is at a comfortable height the keyboard is too high, and when the keyboard is comfortable the screen is too low — which is why prolonged laptop use causes neck and shoulder strain. If a laptop or tablet is used for prolonged periods at a desk, the user should have a separate keyboard and mouse plus a riser or docking station so the screen can sit at eye level. This is a low-cost fix and one of the most effective changes you can make.

Posture and Breaks — the 20-20-20 Rule

Good posture and regular movement matter as much as the equipment. Users should sit back in the chair with the lower back supported, shoulders relaxed, forearms roughly horizontal and feet flat on the floor or a footrest. The screen should be directly in front, not off to one side that forces a twisted neck.

The regulations require that screen work is broken up by changes of activity or short breaks. Frequent short breaks are better than occasional long ones — it is the continuous, unbroken posture that does the damage, not the total hours. A common guide is the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something around 20 feet away for about 20 seconds to rest the eyes. Encourage staff to stand, stretch and change position regularly, and to break up screen work with phone calls, filing or other tasks where they can.

Training, Records and Reviews

You must give DSE users health and safety training and information so they understand the risks and know how to set up and use their workstation properly. For a small firm this can be as simple as walking the admin person through the HSE guidance, showing them how to adjust their chair and screen, and explaining the importance of breaks.

Keep a record of each completed assessment. There is no prescribed form, but a saved copy of the HSE checklist, the date it was done, what you found and what you did about it is enough to show you have met your duty. Review and update the assessment when something changes — a new starter, a move to a different desk or office, new equipment, a switch to homeworking, or a user reporting discomfort. An assessment done once and never looked at again is the kind of thing an inspector or a personal injury claim will pick up on.

A Practical Checklist for a Small Trade Firm

If you employ one or two office staff, or do your own admin at a desk, here is the short version of what to actually do:

• Identify who in your firm is a DSE user — usually the admin, estimator, bookkeeper or you
• Work through the free HSE DSE workstation checklist for each user, in the office and at home
• Fix anything it flags — chair, monitor height, separate keyboard and mouse, lighting
• Give laptop and tablet users a riser plus separate keyboard and mouse for desk work
• Tell users they can request a free eye test, and pay for DSE-specific glasses if needed
• Brief users on posture, regular breaks and the 20-20-20 guidance
• Save the completed assessments and review them when things change

None of this is expensive or time-consuming for a firm with a couple of desks. It protects your staff from avoidable strain injuries, keeps you on the right side of the regulations, and removes one of the easiest things for an inspector or an injury claim to catch you out on.