DSE for Home Workers
Employers must protect their employees from health and safety risks from working on a computer or laptop (display screen equipment or DSE) at home.
Home workers in conjunction with their employer must carry out a home working DSE assessment similiar to one that would be completed if you were working permanently in the company worksplace. This assessment can be a self assessment by the employee or carried in conjunction with a competant DSE assessor from the company.
Workers who complete a self-assessment provided by their employer once they have been given suitable training. Where they use DSE in the home and office, the assessments should cover both situations.
Employers should ensure:
• Home workers can achieve a comfortable, sustainable posture while working with DSE.
• Any equipment provided is safe and suitable for use.
They may not necessarily need office-type furniture or equipment at home to achieve a good posture. Equally, a worker’s own furniture or equipment may not be suitable or sufficient. Use the DSE assessments to help you decide what is needed for your own situation and circumstances.
You should reduce the risks identified by the DSE assessment so far as reasonably practicable. This means balancing the level of risk against the measures needed to control the real risk in terms of money, time or trouble.
Where the DSE workstation assessment indicates that there is a need to take some action, for example providing a piece of DSE equipment, employers cannot charge for this.
Watch the following video on how to set up an ergonmic workstation.