Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Policy template
A display screen equipment (DSE) policy is the written statement of how {{org.name}} protects staff who work at screens — how workstations are assessed, how problems like back pain and eye strain are prevented, and what users are entitled to, including eyesight tests. It covers desktop screens, laptops, and the growing share of screen work done at home.
Screen work looks harmless, which is exactly why it causes so much trouble: poor setups produce musculoskeletal problems, eye strain, and fatigue slowly, and by the time someone reports pain the habit is months old. A working DSE policy catches bad setups at the assessment stage, not at the occupational health referral.
This template gives you a complete, ready-to-edit policy: a definition of who counts as a DSE user, the workstation assessment process, eyesight test arrangements, rules for laptops and homeworking, and the training and records that keep it live.
Full text, ready to adapt.
Highlighted fields are placeholders — replace them with your organisation's specifics. A starting point, not legal advice.
Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Policy
Policy · Health & Safety
1. Purpose and scope
This policy sets out how {{org.name}} manages the health risks of display screen work. It applies to all staff who are DSE users as defined below, whether they work at [site name], at home, or split between the two, and covers desktops, laptops, and tablets used for sustained work.
2. Policy statement
{{org.name}} will assess every DSE user's workstation, act on the findings, provide the equipment the assessment identifies, and pay for eyesight tests as set out in this policy. Screen work will be planned so that users can take breaks or change activity rather than working at a screen for long unbroken spells.
3. Who counts as a DSE user
For this policy, a DSE user is anyone who uses display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work — as a working guide, daily use in continuous spells of an hour or more. At {{org.name}} this includes [roles, e.g. office staff, bookkeeping, rota and admin work in the back office].
Staff who use screens only briefly or occasionally are not users for the purposes of the regulations, but can still raise workstation concerns with [name/role] at any time.
4. Responsibilities
- [Name/role] owns this policy, the assessment process, and the eyesight test arrangements.
- Managers: identify DSE users in their team, make sure assessments happen before sustained screen work starts, and action the findings within [timescale].
- DSE users: complete their self-assessment honestly, set up their workstation as trained, take the planned breaks, and report discomfort — aches, pains, eye strain, headaches — early rather than working through it.
5. Workstation assessments
Every DSE user completes a workstation assessment using [form/checklist based on the HSE checklist] when they join, when they move desks or change equipment, when homeworking arrangements change, and if they report discomfort. [Name/role] reviews each assessment and arranges any equipment or adjustments it identifies — chair, screen riser, external keyboard and mouse, footrest — within [timescale].
The assessment covers the whole workstation: screen height and distance, chair adjustment and support, keyboard and mouse position, desk space, lighting and glare, and the software and workload realities of the role.
6. Eyesight tests and glasses
Any DSE user can request an eyesight test, which {{org.name}} pays for. Requests go to [name/role]; the test is arranged with [optician/arrangement] at no cost to the user, and can be repeated at the interval the optician advises.
Where the test shows a user needs glasses specifically for DSE work (rather than for general use), {{org.name}} pays [the cost of a basic pair / up to [amount] towards them]. Users are told this entitlement exists at induction — it is not a benefit they should have to discover.
7. Breaks and variety of work
- Screen work is planned to include breaks or changes of activity — short and frequent beats long and rare.
- Users are encouraged to break up sustained screen spells with other tasks: calls, filing, movement — [give role-specific examples].
- Managers do not schedule roles so that a full shift is unbroken screen work, and workload reviews take screen time into account.
8. Laptops and homeworking
- Laptops used for sustained work are docked or paired with a separate keyboard, mouse, and riser or external screen — at home as well as on site. {{org.name}} provides this equipment: request via [name/role].
- Home and hybrid workers complete the same self-assessment for their home workstation and update it when their setup changes.
- Discomfort reporting applies identically at home: report early to [name/role], who can arrange equipment or adjustments for the home setup.
9. Records and review
Completed assessments, actions taken, equipment provided, eyesight test records, and training acknowledgments are kept in [system/location] and retained for [period]. Assessments are personal data and are stored accordingly.
This policy is reviewed [frequency, e.g. every two years], and sooner if discomfort reports rise, working patterns change, or the regulations are updated. Owner: [name/role]. Next review due: [date].
How to adapt this template.
List who in your business actually meets the DSE user definition — include hybrid and home workers, not just people at desks you can see.
Adopt or adapt the HSE workstation checklist as your assessment form rather than inventing one.
Decide and write down your glasses contribution and your optician arrangement before publishing — vague entitlements generate friction.
Fill every [bracketed placeholder], then run the assessment on every current user, not just new starters.
Budget for the common fixes — chairs, risers, keyboards — so assessment findings get actioned within the promised timescale.
Set the review date and owner, and mention the eye test entitlement in induction so people actually use it.
Turn this template into trained, proven behaviour
A policy in a drawer proves nothing. In TrainedTeam this template becomes assigned training with knowledge checks, e-signature acknowledgments, version history, and an audit-ready record of who completed what, when.
Display Screen Equipment (DSE) Policy template FAQs
Is a DSE assessment a legal requirement in the UK?
Yes, for DSE users. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 require employers to analyse the workstations of staff who use screens as a significant part of their normal work, assess the risks, and reduce them. A written policy is the practical way to run and evidence that process.
Do employers have to pay for eye tests for screen users?
Yes. Under the DSE Regulations, a user who requests an eyesight test is entitled to one at the employer's expense, and to special corrective appliances (typically glasses) where they are needed specifically for DSE work rather than for general use. The employer's obligation for glasses covers a basic pair suitable for the work.
Do the DSE Regulations apply to homeworkers?
Yes. The regulations apply to DSE users wherever they work, including at home, and hybrid working does not dilute the duty. In practice most employers use a self-assessment checklist for home workstations and provide equipment such as separate keyboards, mice, and risers where the assessment identifies a need.
How often should DSE assessments be repeated?
There is no fixed statutory interval — reassess when something changes: a new desk, new equipment, a move to homeworking, or a report of discomfort. Many organisations also re-run self-assessments periodically, commonly every year or two, to catch gradual drift in setups.
Do occasional screen users get the same entitlements?
The specific DSE duties — workstation analysis, eye tests, planned breaks — attach to "users": staff for whom screen work is a significant part of normal work. Occasional users fall under your general duty of care instead, so it is still sensible to fix any workstation problem they raise; it is just not triggered by the DSE Regulations.
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