Workstation Setup

Improving Posture

Display Screen Equipment (DSE)  Workstation set-up 12 point plan

 

Regulations:

The Health & Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 

 

Visual display screen equipment is now a very common part of everyday life in industry and in the home. People need to understand the correct way of using this equipment if stress is to be avoided.

 

The 12 point plan below may help you to use your equipment safely.

1. Adjust your seat height so that elbows are approximately level with the desk edge.  Your wrists should be in a relaxed, neutral position.  Assess the impact of armrests, if present.
2. If your feet do not touch the floor, use a footrest to support them and ensure that there is not undue pressure on your bottom and / or thighs.
3. Adjust your chair back rake for comfort and support, this should be fairly upright when typing.
4. Adjust your chair back height for comfortable lumbar support.
5. Your keyboard should be approximately a hands length away from the front edge of your desk / table. There should be sufficient room to rest your arms in the space between the desk edge and the keyboard.
6. Adjust your viewing distance and screen height to suit, but ensure a slightly downward viewing angle to the screen.  As a rough guide, your eyes should be about level with the top of the display screen and your screen should be at approximately arms length.       
7. It should be possible to avoid glare and reflections by adjusting your screen tilt.  The correct viewing position is with the screen at right angles to the line of sight (it should not be necessary to work with the screen angled down in order to avoid reflections).
8. Do not work at odd angles if it can be avoided your body position should be 'squared-up' to the table. Therefore, if you are interacting with the computer the screen should be directly in front of you. If you are copy typing, place the copy directly in front of you.
9. If working from hard copy, use a document holder whenever possible.  Ideally you should position documents at the same view distance as the screen, but only if they are easy to read at that distance.  If it is not possible to use a document holder consider placing the document between the monitor and the keyboard.
10. Think about the positioning of other equipment, especially any items that are frequently used, including the mouse.  You should not have to stretch excessively for the telephone, or regularly used reference material.  Printers, however, should not be positioned close to users (e.g. on users' desks).
11. Organise your work so that you take regular short screen breaks e.g. collecting documents from the printer, filing, making coffee, etc.
12. When not engaged in sustained keying change your workstation and / or chair set-up (your chair should be lower relative to the desk when you are involved in clerical type tasks) so that through the day you adopt a variety of working postures.