Display screen equipment risk assessment: 8 ways to automate

What a company assessment covers

This is the company record of how screen work is controlled. It is not one person's chair. That record is the workstation assessment.

A display screen equipment risk assessment here names who is covered, the standard workstation, laptops and hot desks and home working, breaks, training, eye tests, how each person's own workstation assessment is run, and when this assessment is reviewed. A named person's symptoms stay on their own record.

#1 - The company checks

Who it's for: Single-site businesses recording the company assessment themselves.

What it is: Eight checks. Who counts as a user. The standard workstation. Laptops, hot desks and home working. Breaks. Training. Eye tests. How each person's own workstation assessment is run. When this assessment is reviewed. Most ask two things: what is in place, and what is still to do. Who could be harmed is asked once, at the top, because it is the same people throughout. Jo's chair is checked on Jo's own assessment.

In practice: You do this once for a single-site office. The users are the bookings administrator and the receptionist. Kitchen staff are written down as out of scope, because they only use a screen to clock in. The standard desk has an adjustable chair and the screen on an arm. Laptops are docked with a separate keyboard. Reception cannot leave the desk, so the break is a ten-minute swap each hour. Eye tests go through the manager to a named optician, and the business pays for a basic pair when they are needed for the screen. Two people still have no personal assessment, and that is written as the action. The open actions are visible without rereading the form.

Why it works: Each check is a different duty, and the "still to do" line is where a gap shows up. A manager can finish it in one sitting and still have named who is covered and what is missing.

Steps included:

• 8 checks, from who is covered through to when this assessment is redone
• Two prompts on most checks: what is in place, and what is still to do
• Who could be harmed is asked once
• Each person's workstation assessment is recorded as its own arrangement

When to upgrade:

1. The manager filling this in is not a specialist
2. You want the standard desk on camera
3. A named person has to own the finished assessment
4. You are reviewing one you did last year

#2 - With guidance above the checks

Who it's for: Businesses where a manager runs the assessment and is not a DSE specialist.

What it is: The same eight checks. Above them, a note says what a complete answer includes. A laptop cannot have the screen and the keyboard in the right place at once. You provide an eye test when a user asks, and you pay for a basic pair only when the glasses are needed for the screen. The note is read before the answers, not buried under them.

In practice: A duty manager who has never written one of these reads the note, then answers home working, eye tests and training without ringing anyone first.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. The note above the checks, before the answers
2. What a complete answer includes, so a short reply can still be enough
3. The same assessment, whoever fills it in

Why it works: The note is read at the moment of answering. A manager who is not a specialist still covers home working, eye tests and training.

Steps included:

• The 8 checks and their prompts
• Guidance above the checks: why each area is there, and what to include

When to upgrade: When you want the typical desk on the record, not only the sentence about it (#3).

#3 - With a photo on the standard desk

Who it's for: Businesses that want a photo of the standard workstation on the record.

What it is: The same eight checks, plus one photo on the standard workstation check. You photograph a typical fixed desk as it is actually used: chair, screen, keyboard and desk. Eye tests and training stay as written answers. Someone's own desk is photographed on their own assessment. The picture is the setup you actually issue.

In practice: The office manager answers the standard workstation questions and photographs the bookings desk, the one the other desks are copied from. Home setups and the reception swap stay as written answers. Next year's review can see whether that desk is still the one you described.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. One photo on the standard workstation check, taken while you assess that area
2. A visual baseline for the standard you say you provide
3. No photo on the checks that are arrangements, such as eye tests and training

Why it works: A sentence can say the screens are on arms. The photo shows the desk those words refer to. The photo shows the desk the answers describe.

Steps included:

• The 8 checks, the guidance above them, and their prompts
• 1 photo on the standard workstation check

When to upgrade: When a named person has to sign that this is the company assessment (#4).

#4 - With a signature on the assessment

Who it's for: Businesses where a named person owns the company assessment.

What it is: The photo check, with a signature on the assessment itself. The person who owns it signs that the eight answers are the arrangements in place, and that the "still to do" lines are the actions. The company record has an owner.

In practice: The office manager finishes the eight areas, photographs the bookings desk, and signs. Next year it is clear who said the reception break was a ten-minute swap.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A signature on the finished assessment
2. A name against the arrangements, not only against a personal desk
3. The same eight checks and the same one photo

Why it works: An unsigned company assessment is a document anyone could have drafted. The signature is who will be asked about it. Someone has put their name on the controls.

Steps included:

• The 8 checks, the guidance, and the photo of the standard desk
• 1 signature from the person who owns the company assessment

When to upgrade: When you are reviewing last year's assessment, and the old gaps should be on screen first (#5).

#5 - With the last assessment on screen

Who it's for: Businesses reviewing an assessment they have done before.

What it is: The signed assessment, with Pilla reading the last company assessment before this one starts. The briefing sits at the top. It gives the date, any "still to do" line that was never closed, and which areas changed. Last year's open gap is on screen before you answer.

In practice: The office manager starts the annual review. Pilla says two people still had no personal assessment last March. That line is the first thing they deal with, before they re-describe the standard desk.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. The last company assessment, at the top
2. Any action that was never closed
3. A start point for the review, instead of a blank form

Why it works: A fresh form invites people to copy last year's sentences and skip the gap. The old gap is already in front of them. The review starts from what was left unfinished.

Steps included:

• The signed company assessment
• 1 Pilla briefing of the last company assessment, at the top

When to upgrade: When a "still to do" line should force a fuller account of the gap (#6).

#6 - With more detail when something is missing

Who it's for: Businesses that need a gap described, not just ticked as still to do.

What it is: If an area has something still to do, a follow-up opens in the chain and asks what is missing, who it affects, and what has already been tried. An area that is fully in place does not open it. A gap cannot end as three words.

In practice: "Two people have no personal assessment" opens the follow-up. The manager writes their names, that both are new, and that the workstation check has not been sent. Breaks, already described as the ten-minute swap, do not open a follow-up.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A follow-up only when something is still to do
2. What is missing, who it affects, and what has been tried
3. A straight path through the areas that are already in place

Why it works: "Still to do" is a flag. The follow-up is the account. The gap arrives with enough to act on.

Steps included:

• The company assessment with the last one at the top
• 1 rule on the "still to do" lines
• 1 follow-up step, in the chain, that collects the detail of the gap

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

#7 - With a direct message about the gap

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

What it is: When the follow-up is filled in, Pilla sends a direct message to the person who set the automation up. The message names the area and what the follow-up says is missing. An assessment with nothing still to do does not send one. It does not go to a team chat, and nobody approves it first. You hear about the gap the same day.

In practice: The two missing personal assessments become a direct message: names, both new, workstation check not sent. The areas that were already in place stay quiet.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A direct message after the follow-up step
2. The area, and the detail of what is missing
3. No message when every area is in place

Why it works: A signed company assessment still waits for someone to open it. The message does not. The gap leaves the form and reaches the person who can close it.

Steps included:

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

When to upgrade: When the review date can pass with the assessment never opened (#8).

#8 - With a chase if it is late

Who it's for: Businesses whose company assessment has a review date and still gets missed.

What it is: The same assessment, plus a chase if it is not finished by the review date. Pilla messages you to get it done. A finished assessment does not generate one. A missed review shows up on the date, not at the next inspection.

In practice: The annual review was due on 1 March. Nobody opened it. You get a message naming the company assessment. The office that finished it in February does not.

What it adds to the previous template:

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

Why it works: The follow-up only helps after someone starts. The chase is for the year nobody starts. The missing review is chased while it is still this year's.

Steps included:

• The company assessment, including the direct message when a gap is described
• 1 chase if the assessment is not finished by the review date

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. Every version is the same company assessment. Later ones add the note, the photo, the signature, last year's gaps, a fuller account of what is missing, a direct message, and a chase.

Do other people run the assessment?

If you run it yourself and know the method, the plain checks are enough: #1. When a manager who is not a specialist fills it in, the notes need to sit above the checks: #2.

Do you want the standard desk on the record?

The written answers are the assessment. Add the photo on that check when you want the typical desk on the record: #3. Add the signature when someone has to own it: #4.

Are you reviewing an old one, or closing a gap?

If last year's unfinished lines should be on screen first, use #5. If a "still to do" line should open a step that describes the gap, use #6. If you should get a direct message after that step, use #7. If the review date can pass with nobody opening it, use #8.

Related workflows

• Display screen equipment workstation assessment - one person at one desk
• Stress risk assessment - the related risk for office and screen-heavy roles
• Fire risk assessment - the premises-wide assessment
• Manual handling risk assessment - another common workplace assessment

Conclusion

Screen work goes wrong slowly: posture, tired eyes, aches that turn up after months. This assessment is the record of the controls the business actually provides. It names who is covered, the standard desk, laptops and home working, breaks, training, eye tests, and how each person's own workstation assessment gets done. A person's own chair stays on their own record. Pick a version and build on it in the playground.