VDU Risk Assessments
VDU Risk Assessments (also know as Display Screen Equipment Risk Assessments (DSE)) are a legal requirement under the “2007 General Application Regulations”. The law states that the Employer is required to undertake Visual Display Unit (VDU) (DSE) Assessments on all computer workstations where an employee will spend longer than 1 hour per day.
Guardian Safety can carry out risk assessments at each employee’s workstation where our assessors observe the employee in their normal work environment. Together our assessor and your employee complete a VDU risk assessment survey. The assessment will look at the workstation, the screen, the chair, position of the desk in relation to the windows, the lighting in the work area , we will discreetly identify if the employee is/is not experiencing any pain or discomfort while using the equipment. (This will assist in meeting your legal requirement to carry out health surveillance on your employees).
Where adjustments to the work station can be made to reduce risks, they will be made immediately and these changes recorded. The assessor explains to each employee why those adjustments are required and the personal benefits. Any further recommendations are noted in the reports. Each employee receives individual advice and tuition in workstation set up. Employees are required sign off on all reports which are also considered as training records.
The reports will then be typed up and both a typed version and the employee hand written and signed report are returned to you. These records are important to you as they demonstrate that a Risk Assessment has been carried out as required by The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work, (General Application) Regulations 2007, Chapter 5 of Part 2) and also serve as a Training Record.
Typically each assessment would take 20-30mins, this may take longer if we are able to implement the recommended controls at the time of the survey, however there is no additional cost for this. This may also take longer if we discovered that the employee has any existing injuries or conditions so that we can establish a root cause.
Free Work Environment Survey: We will also carry out a basic occupational noise assessment, measure the level of lighting, conduct a temperature and humidity test, all at no extra cost. This is also required under the regulations.