Display screen equipment workstation assessment: 9 ways to automate

What this is

This page covers a display screen equipment workstation assessment as editable playground workflow templates on Pilla’s canvas. It is the record for one named person at one desk, including a home setup. The company display screen equipment assessment is the other record: the chairs you provide, the eye-test route, and the rule that these personal checks happen. Open a version, tweak the steps, and try it with your team.

A display screen equipment workstation assessment looks at that person, that workstation, and the job. HSE expects a fresh one when someone starts, when the desk or the equipment changes, when they start working from home, and when they report pain.

#1 - The person's own check

Who it's for: People recording one colleague at one desk.

What it is: A workstation assessment is a record of one named person at one desk. It asks who they are, where they are sitting, and 12 checks covering the chair, the screen, the keyboard, the mouse, glare, breaks, and how to ask for an eye test. Then it asks what is not right, including any pain, and what will change. The record names the person and the desk.

In practice: The bookings administrator at a single-site hotel sits at her own desk and works down the 12 checks. Her feet are flat, the screen is about an arm's length away, and the glare from the window is not. She writes that, and that her shoulder aches by Thursday. The manager writes that a monitor arm is on order. Thursday's ache is on the record with the desk it came from.

Why it works: The company assessment can say the chairs adjust. It cannot say whether this chair fits this person. Twelve ticks plus a line for pain is enough to show the desk was looked at, and a blank pain line is a choice, not a missing page.

Steps included:

• 1 name
• 1 place (office desk, hot desk, or home)
• 1 checklist (12 workstation checks)
• 1 note of anything not right, and any pain
• 1 note of what will change

When to upgrade:

1. The person is checking their own desk and needs the method on the screen
2. You want a photo of that setup, not a description of it
3. Someone other than the person has to agree the actions
4. The same people do this again next year, and the last open action should be in front of them

#2 - With guidance

Who it's for: Teams where the person checks their own desk.

What it is: The same 12 checks, with two notes on the screen. One tells them to sit as they work, adjust as they go, and tick an item only if it is true today. The other tells them what to write if something is unticked, if something hurts, or if a health condition makes the desk a poor fit. A new starter can check their own desk without a briefing first.

In practice: A receptionist on their first Monday works through the list with the note above it. They leave the glare line unticked, write that the window is behind the screen, and write that nothing hurts. The manager reads a complete answer instead of a half-ticked list.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A note before the checks, on how to sit and when a tick is honest
2. A note before the pain line, on what a complete answer includes
3. The same 12 checks, whoever is sitting in the chair

Why it works: The method is on the screen at the moment they need it. The answers come back in a form a reviewer can act on.

Steps included:

• The name, the place, the 12 checks, the pain note, and what will change
• 2 guidance notes: how to check, and what to write if something is wrong

When to upgrade: When you want the desk itself on the record, not only the words (#3).

#3 - With a photo of the setup

Who it's for: Teams that want the actual desk on the record.

What it is: The guided check plus one photo of that workstation, taken as the person is about to use it. The photo sits with the 12 checks. The picture is this desk, on this day.

In practice: The bookings administrator photographs her chair, screen, keyboard and desk after she has set the screen height. Next year the reviewer can see the window is still behind the screen, which is why the glare line was left unticked. A home worker photographs the kitchen table as well, on a second run of the same check.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. One photo of the workstation, taken during the assessment
2. A picture beside the ticks, so the words have the desk next to them
3. A baseline for the next time this person is assessed

Why it works: A sentence can say the screen is at eye height. The photo shows the screen they meant. The reviewer can see the setup without visiting the desk.

Steps included:

• The guided check: name, place, 12 checks, pain note, and what will change
• 1 photo of this workstation

When to upgrade: When someone has to confirm the answers and agree the actions (#4).

#4 - With photo and sign-off

Who it's for: Teams where someone else has to agree the actions.

What it is: The photo check plus two signatures. The person signs that this is their workstation and the answers are theirs. The reviewer signs when they have read it and the actions are agreed. The actions are agreed, not just written down.

In practice: The bookings administrator signs after the photo. The office manager reads the shoulder note, agrees the monitor arm, and signs. Two names are on one record: the person who sits there, and the person who can order the arm.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. The person's own confirmation
2. A reviewer's signature once the actions are agreed
3. A closed record of who accepted the setup

Why it works: A checklist without a reviewer is a form in a drawer. The second signature is the point HSE actually cares about: someone competent has looked. An open action has a name against it.

Steps included:

• The photo check
• 1 signature from the person
• 1 signature from the reviewer

When to upgrade: When this person has been assessed before, and the last open action should be on screen before they start (#5).

#5 - With the last assessment pulled in

Who it's for: Teams doing this again for the same people.

What it is: The signed photo check, with Poppi reading this person's earlier workstation assessments before they begin. It tells them the date of the last one, any action still open, and to run it again for home if they work there too. Last year's open action is on screen before they tick a box.

In practice: The bookings administrator starts the annual check. Poppi says the monitor arm from last April was never marked done. She looks at the desk, photographs it, and the manager can see the old action next to today's photo.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. The last assessment, pulled in at the start
2. Any action that was never closed
3. A prompt to assess home as well, when that applies

Why it works: People repeat "all fine" because they have forgotten the thing that was not. The old action is in front of them. A repeat assessment starts from what was left unfinished.

Steps included:

• The signed photo check
• 1 Poppi briefing of this person's last workstation assessment

When to upgrade: When a problem or pain should force a named fix, rather than a note that can be skipped (#6).

#6 - With a route when something is wrong

Who it's for: Teams that need a named fix when the desk is not right.

What it is: The same assessment, and a rule on the pain note. If the person reports pain, a health condition, or anything about the chair, screen, keyboard, mouse, glare or breaks that is not right, a further step opens: who will fix it, and by when. If they write that everything is fine, that step stays out of the way. A problem cannot end as a blank line.

In practice: The receptionist writes that the screen faces the window and their neck aches. The fix step opens. The manager writes their own name and Friday. A colleague who ticks all 12 and writes that nothing hurts never sees that step.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A rule that reads the pain note
2. An extra step only when something is wrong
3. A name and a date for the fix

Why it works: The straight path is for a desk that is fine. The side path is for a desk that is not. The awkward cases are the ones with an owner.

Steps included:

• The assessment with the last one pulled in
• 1 rule on the pain note
• 1 step for who will fix it, and by when, when the rule says there is a problem

When to upgrade: When the manager should hear about that fix the same day, without waiting to open the record (#7).

#7 - With a message when something is wrong

Who it's for: Teams that want the manager told the same day.

What it is: When the fix step is filled in, Poppi messages the team. The message carries the person's name, where they work, what is wrong, and who will fix it. A desk that was fine does not send one. The manager hears about the pain the same day.

In practice: The receptionist's neck note becomes a team message before the end of the shift: screen facing the window, manager named, Friday. The four other desks assessed that morning, all fine, stay quiet.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A team message when a fix is named
2. The person, the desk, and the problem in that message
3. No message when the assessment is fine

Why it works: A signed form still waits for someone to open it. The message does not. The action leaves the form and reaches the person who can order the kit.

Steps included:

• The route for when something is wrong
• 1 team message, sent when the fix step is completed

When to upgrade: When some notes are real problems and some are comments you do not want in the team chat (#8).

#8 - With a check before the message

Who it's for: Teams that do not want every note to become a message.

What it is: Before the team message sends, someone answers a yes or no: does this workstation problem need the team to be told? Yes sends it. No keeps the fix on the record and leaves the chat alone. A message goes out only when someone decides it should.

In practice: The reviewer reads two pain notes in a morning. The receptionist's neck ache is a yes, and the team hears about the window. A home worker's note that they would like a nicer chair, with no pain and every box ticked, is a no. The wish stays on their record.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A decision in front of the team message
2. Yes sends the message, no keeps it on the record
3. The same fix step either way

Why it works: Not every sentence in the pain box is an incident. The decision is a person, not a guess. The chat stays for the problems that need the team.

Steps included:

• The message when a fix is named
• 1 decision before that message is sent

When to upgrade: When the risk is that the assessment is never started, not only that a problem goes quiet (#9).

#9 - With a chase if it is not finished

Who it's for: Teams with new starters or home workers who may never submit.

What it is: Everything in the version before, plus a direct message if this person's assessment is not finished by the deadline. The message asks you to get it done, and to record the reason if they are blocked. A missing assessment is chased, not discovered at the annual review.

In practice: A new administrator was due to assess the front desk and their home setup in the first week. Neither was submitted. You get a message naming the gap. The receptionist who finished on Monday, photo and signature included, does not generate one.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A deadline on the assessment
2. A direct message when it is missed
3. A place to record the reason, if the person is blocked

Why it works: The detailed route only helps after someone starts. New starters and home workers are the ones who never open it. The gap shows up while they are still new.

Steps included:

• The full assessment, including the decision before a problem is messaged
• 1 direct message if the assessment is not finished on time

When to upgrade: This is the full route. Use an earlier version if you do not want the message or the chase.

How to pick the right version

You don't need to know the product to choose. You need to know who runs the assessment, whether you want the desk on camera, and whether a problem should leave the form on its own.

Is it just you, or does the person check their own desk?

If you sit with them and you already know the method, the plain check is enough: #1. The moment they do it alone, the notes need to be on the screen: #2.

Do you need a photo, or are the ticks enough?

The ticks say the screen is at the right height. The photo shows that screen: #3. Add the two signatures when someone has to agree the actions: #4.

Should a problem reach someone who was not in the room?

If the reviewer always reads the form, stop at #4 or #5. If a pain note should open a named fix, use #6. If the team should hear that day, use #7. If you want a person to decide before that message sends, use #8. If the real failure is that new people never start, use #9.

Related workflows

• Display screen equipment risk assessment - the company record of kit, breaks, eye tests, and the rule that these personal checks happen
• Display screen equipment training - the session that shows people how to set the workstation up
• Stress risk assessment - the related company assessment for workload and pressure
• Manual handling risk assessment - the company assessment for lifting, which is a different job from sitting at a screen

Conclusion

A display screen equipment workstation assessment is the record of one person at one desk: 12 checks, anything that hurts, and what will change. HSE expects that look when they start, when the desk changes, when they work from home, and when they report pain. The company assessment is where the shared rules live. Pick the version that matches who runs the check, and build on it in the playground.