I think you have the DSE regs wrong. The aim of the regs is to look at how an individual interacts with the workstation, so there is no such thing as ‘DSE complaint’ workstation. People come in all different shapes and sizes ( long body short legs, long legs and arms etc) often they are not even aware their differences until someone points them out. They just assume that they’re ‘normal’. People also have different job requirements. Some just require a place to touch down to catch with their email, others will spend all day seated, writing up reports or entering data etc. A work area such as you have described needs to have the maximum amount of flexibility built into it ie not only fully adjustable chairs but high adjustable desks, different sizes of desk, chairs with different styles of back support etc. The geniuses who create these areas are often obsessed with making them look “fun but corporate” with as much standardisation as possible. I still remember being criticised for daring to supply a chair of the wrong colour in recently done out office. As often in the case in “elf and safety” you seem to have been presented with a fait accomplis –this is what we have decided upon and you are going to have to apply the Health and Safety gloss onto it to make it compliant.

As A Kurdziel says, DSE is about the user interaction with the workstation. You may find that some of these workers will not be classed as DSE users. Familiarise yourself with the regs, otherwise I'm not sure you could class yourself as competent to assess. However, my suggestion is that you look at an online assessment for the number of staff you have. They can undertake a short training video and complete the assessment online. You will be able to review those that have 'action required' easily. There are many providers out there and quality various so ask for free trials to find the best for you before committing.

Fait-accompli? Yes, that's the word I was looking for :-) I agree with all of the comments and that's where I was heading with my thinking. Some basic explanation first: all of the workstations are the same, but its not intended that a user will have a set DSE Workstation. None of the desks are designated to an individual - it's just either first come, first served, OR as the management would like, people would naturally go into ad-hoc groups depending upon what they are doing. So they may group into a functional group (marketing) or a marketing team may sit with the Legal Team for a couple of days whilst working on a project, etc. I'm sure you get the picture. I agree with points about workstations and people being equally relevant. But again, in the real world, if we assume something like 80% perhaps of the users (taking ergonomical aspects into account) will find that all of the workstations fit their needs. So in this respect, is it not logical to deal with the exceptions? As an example I'm sure you do not need but to illustrate the point: If I know that at these workstations, I need my VDU spectacles and my seat or desk raising to a certain height - then that applies to any of the other 299 workstations I may choose to sit at. Also - to be fair - the HSE's own guidance note and checklist - CK1.PDF - is only assessing (in the main) the workstation, not the user. So if I use it to assess one of my workstations and it meets the requirements of a workstation, all others therefore must meet the criteria as they are all identical and already positioned in suitable places. The checklist is specifically, in my view and indeed the HSE's, for workstations, not people. "Remember, the checklist only covers the workstation and working environment." Their words. As I said earlier, I still have to deal with people and their particular requirements. but for the vast majority of people, each workstation will be just as suitable as any other. Comments, discuss...

I can't believe that someone indicated that ".....you may not be competent to assess.....!! I an IOSH member is not able to carry out a DSE assessment it would be astonishing.

Thanks for the reply. I don't think the term "Hot Desking" applies. As the implication is that it is many people using a single or few desks. In reality, there are many people using many identical desks and - in fact most people are likely to use the same desk quite frequently and if even if they did not, the desk and equipment provided at any another desk is the same anyway. However, terminology aside - I agree entirely. Probably 95% of the workforce will need no particular adjustments, just information and guidance. But does this mean I have to do 300 assessments just to find out what I already knew? If we are to perform "sensible health and safety" and risk-based and proportional measures, then surely it is more effective to deal with the exceptions to the rule? I.e. those persons who we know, or who can identify themselves (with appropriate information and guidance) as needing some other adjustments?

That's probably closest to what I am thinking, and my management team to be fair. (Post by A.Kurdziel) HSE Guidance also seems to support this, saying that an assessment should be completed whenever a new workstation is set up, or when a substantial change is made to a workstation, or when there is a reason to suspect that they may no longer be valid (i.e. complaints of pain or discomfort.) It also goes on to say about sharing and hot desking, that it may be useful to provide a checklist at each workstation telling users what to assess. Forget about the terminlogy as I till don't regard this as hot desking, more like flexible working arrangements (as there are easily enough desks), this seems like an entirely pragmatic approach.

That's pretty much my thinking. Deal with the significance, not the trivia.

hserc, our organisation embraced " hot desking" some years ago with out really thinking through the Human element. There was and still is a lot of resistance to this. A desk booking system has helped. We found that ensuring that users understood what DSE assessments were for and the benefits of "proper Use" really was the key. With a good training /self assessment package you will enable them to self assess and hopefully come to you/LM with any concerns. As a bonus you may have given them some knowledge to take into their private life when using IT at home. We did find that there will be some people who need to be allocated a fixed workstation, either due to very specific requirements for desks or chairs or because they found that style of working very stressful, I think there is another strand here about working with their back to a walk way?

Maybe on a cost / benefit basis? 3 people to discuss each worker? Really? For a big govt dept with 500 office workers that would be (at least) one hour at average salary adding up to £20k at least, assuming quick and efficient (and on average wage!). And that is BEFORE any other action - just the 'discussion'. To protect how many from what?