Display screen equipment workstation assessment: 8 ways to automate

What a workstation assessment covers

This 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.

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

#2 - With guidance above the checks

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

What it is: The same 12 checks, with the method written above them. Sit as you work. Adjust as you go. Tick an item only if it is true today. A second note, still above the answers, says 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 reads the note, then works through the list. 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. The method above the checks, before they tick anything
2. What a complete answer includes, above the pain line
3. The same 12 checks, whoever is sitting in the chair

Why it works: The method is read before the ticks, not after a wrong one. 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
• Guidance above the checks: how to sit, 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 on the checks

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

What it is: The guided check, plus a photo on the workstation check itself. They take it as they are about to use the desk, not as a separate job afterwards. 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 on a second run of the same check.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A photo on the workstation check, taken during it
2. The 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 on the workstation check

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

#4 - With a signature on the checks

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

What it is: The photo check, with the signatures on the check rather than on a later form. 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, on the check
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 someone competent has looked. An open action has a name against it.

Steps included:

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

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 on screen

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

What it is: The signed photo check, with Pilla reading this person's earlier workstation assessments before they begin. The briefing sits at the top. It gives the date of the last one, any action still open, and a prompt 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. Pilla 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, at the top, before the checks
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 Pilla briefing of this person's last workstation assessment, at the top

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

#6 - With more detail when something is wrong

Who it's for: Teams that need the problem described, not just noted.

What it is: The same assessment, and a follow-up in the chain on the pain note. If they report pain, a health condition, or anything about the chair, screen, keyboard, mouse, glare or breaks that is not right, the next step opens and asks what is wrong, where, and what they have already tried. 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 follow-up opens. They write that the ache starts by lunch, on the left side, and that they have already turned the screen once. A colleague who ticks all 12 and writes that nothing hurts never sees that step.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A follow-up that opens only when the pain note shows a problem
2. What is wrong, where, and what they have already tried
3. A straight path when the desk is fine

Why it works: The first note says something is wrong. The follow-up is where the detail lives, so the reviewer is not guessing from one sentence. The awkward cases arrive with enough to act on.

Steps included:

• The assessment with the last one at the top
• 1 rule on the pain note
• 1 follow-up step, in the chain, that collects the detail when there is a problem

When to upgrade: When the person who set this up should hear that detail without opening the record (#7).

#7 - With a direct message about the problem

Who it's for: The person who set the assessment up.

What it is: When the follow-up step is filled in, Pilla sends a direct message to the person who set the automation up. The message carries the person's name, where they work, and what the follow-up says is wrong. A desk that was fine does not send one. It does not go to a team chat, and nobody has to approve it first. You hear about the pain the same day.

In practice: The receptionist's neck note becomes a direct message before the end of the shift: screen facing the window, ache by lunch, screen already turned once. The four other desks assessed that morning, all fine, stay quiet.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A direct message after the follow-up step
2. The person, the desk, and the detail from that step
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 detail leaves the form and reaches the person who can order the kit.

Steps included:

• The follow-up for when something is wrong
• 1 direct message, sent when that follow-up is completed

When to upgrade: When the risk is that the assessment is never started, not only that a problem goes quiet (#8).

#8 - With a chase if it is late

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

What it is: The same assessment, plus a chase if this person's check is not finished by the deadline. Pilla messages you to get it done. A finished check, photo and signature included, does not generate one. 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 does not.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A deadline on the assessment
2. A chase when that deadline passes with the check unfinished
3. Silence when the check was finished on time

Why it works: The follow-up 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 assessment, including the direct message when a problem is described
• 1 chase if the assessment is not finished by the deadline

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.

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 sit above the checks: #2.

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

The ticks say the screen is at the right height. The photo is on that check: #3. Add the signatures on the check 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 step that collects the detail, use #6. If you should get a direct message after that step, use #7. If the real failure is that new people never start, use #8.

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.