When discussing Display Screen Equipment (DSE) adjustments, the conversation can quickly focus on chairs, desks, or specialist peripherals. While equipment can absolutely play an important role, effective reasonable adjustments are often broader than furniture alone.
In many cases, the biggest improvements come from changing how someone works, rather than simply what they work with.
Reasonable adjustments can include:
- Flexible break patterns or increased task variation
- Adjusted workloads during symptom flare-ups
- Hybrid or homeworking arrangements
- Changes to working hours to support fatigue management or medical needs
- Additional time for certain tasks
- Voice recognition software or reduced reliance on keyboard/mouse input
- Use of built-in accessibility settings within operating systems
- Training or coaching on workstation setup and posture
- Temporary adjustments during recovery from injury or surgery
Why this matters
A common challenge in DSE management is assuming discomfort must always be resolved through equipment. In reality, musculoskeletal discomfort can be influenced by many factors, including workload, stress, repetitive work patterns, pace of work, recovery time, and individual health considerations.
For example, an employee experiencing discomfort from prolonged intensive mouse use may benefit more from task variation, understanding how to use keyboard shortcuts, or speech-to-text software than from increasingly specialist furniture.
Similarly, employees managing fatigue, neurodiversity, visual sensitivities, or long-term conditions may require adjustments that are operational or behavioural rather than physical.
The importance of individual assessment
Two people with similar discomfort may require completely different solutions. A successful adjustment should consider:
- The individual’s role and tasks
- How work is organised
- Existing coping strategies
- Medical advice where appropriate
- What barriers are actually affecting day-to-day work
This is why a “catalogue approach” to adjustments can sometimes lead to unnecessary equipment provision without fully addressing the problem.
A practical example
We recently supported a client where an employee was struggling with upper limb discomfort during intensive data-processing work. The initial assumption was that specialist ergonomic equipment would be required. However, assessment identified that prolonged uninterrupted mouse use and tight workflow deadlines were the primary contributors.
By introducing task variation, encouraging use of keyboard shortcuts, advising on ways to build in breaks throughout the day naturally without effecting productivity, and providing some additional targeted software training, discomfort reduced significantly without major workstation changes.
The takeaway
Reasonable adjustments for DSE users should focus on reducing barriers to comfortable and effective work, and that does not always mean changing furniture.
Sometimes the most effective adjustments are the simplest, most practical, and most sustainable.
