October is Global Ergonomics Month, making it the perfect time to consider whether your DSE and ergonomics program is delivering the best possible outcomes for your workforce.

The latest HSE figures show that 511,000 workers in Great Britain were suffering from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder in 2024/25. That’s a powerful reminder that effective ergonomics is about much more than having the right software in place. It’s about identifying risks early, taking action and providing ongoing support that reflects how, where and why people work.

Keep reading to discover 10 ways you can build a more proactive ergonomics program that supports employee wellbeing, productivity and individual needs.

1. Move from reactive to proactive

Don’t wait for discomfort or an employee request before taking action.

Regular training, assessments and communication can help employees recognise potential risks and make changes earlier. Just as importantly, your program should give you the information needed to spot where intervention might be required before an issue becomes more difficult to resolve.

2. Turn assessment results into action

A completed assessment is only valuable if you do something with the information it provides.

Establish clear processes for reviewing identified risks, deciding what happens next and ensuring actions are completed. This might range from simple workstation adjustments and additional guidance to a specialist assessment or new equipment.

The goal shouldn’t simply be high assessment completion rates. It should be reducing risk.

3. Give people the confidence to help themselves

Your employees are an important part of your ergonomics program.

Give them practical knowledge they can apply throughout their working day, such as how to adjust their workstation, use their equipment effectively and recognise the early signs that something isn’t right.

Creating greater awareness can help make good ergonomics part of everyday working life rather than something employees think about once a year.

4. Design your program around how people actually work

Home, office, hybrid and hot-desking arrangements can all present different ergonomic challenges.

Your approach needs to reflect this flexibility rather than assuming that the same assessment or workstation setup will be right everywhere.

Healthy Working, for example, can adapt its training and self-assessment according to where and how someone works, including home, office, hybrid and hot-desking environments.

5. Build accessibility and individual needs into your approach

No two employees are exactly the same, so ergonomics shouldn’t be one size fits all.

Disability, pregnancy, existing health conditions, equipment and individual working requirements can all affect the support someone needs.

Make sure your program gives people an opportunity to highlight these requirements and provides a route to appropriate support. Healthy Working can tailor content according to individual equipment and working arrangements and take specific needs such as pregnancy into account.

6. Use your data to see the bigger picture

Individual assessments can highlight immediate concerns, but collectively your data can tell you much more.

Look for patterns across teams, locations and types of risk. Are the same issues appearing repeatedly? Are there groups that may need additional support? Is particular equipment regularly being requested?

The PACE management module within Healthy Working enables organisations to track risks, manage tasks and access reporting history from a central hub.

7. Make it easy to ask for help

Employees shouldn’t have to wait until their next scheduled assessment to raise a concern.

Make sure people understand when and how to ask for additional support, particularly if they begin experiencing discomfort or their circumstances change.

An accessible route to support can help you intervene earlier and create a culture where employees feel able to raise potential issues before they escalate.

8. Know when technology isn’t enough

Software can automate and simplify many aspects of an ergonomics program, but there will always be situations that need human expertise.

Some employees may require virtual or face-to-face assessments, specialist advice or support finding appropriate furniture and equipment. Recognising when an issue needs to move beyond self-assessment is an important part of an effective program.

9. Make sure your program has someone driving it

Even good systems can lose momentum if there’s limited internal resource available to manage them.

Consider who is monitoring risks, following up with employees, coordinating assessments and reviewing your data. If your team doesn’t have the capacity or expertise to manage this consistently, a managed ergonomics service can provide additional support and help keep the program moving.

This can be particularly valuable for larger or more complex workforces where managing individual cases, assessments and follow-up internally can place significant demands on existing teams.

10. Keep evolving your approach

Your ergonomics program shouldn’t stand still.

New working practices, technology, employee needs and organisational changes can all affect the risks your workforce faces. Regularly review what is working, what your data is telling you and where your approach could improve.

Rather than viewing DSE and ergonomics as a compliance exercise, make it an ongoing part of your wider workplace health, wellbeing and productivity strategy.

Supporting your entire ergonomics journey

Healthy Working is the world’s most widely used online ergonomics solution, but Cardinus can help with much more than software.

With 30 years of experience in ergonomics, we understand that every organisation has different challenges, resources and objectives. That’s why our support is built around your requirements rather than providing a one-size-fits-all solution.

Whether you need the technology to help manage your program internally or additional expertise to support your team, we can work with you at every stage. This can include expert ergonomics assessments, wider wraparound services and a fully managed ergonomics service for organisations that need additional support managing their program.

We can also help you find appropriate furniture and equipment for employees, ensuring that the action following an assessment is as effective as the assessment itself.

Ultimately, we want to help you address the challenges you face today while building a more proactive ergonomics program that continues to deliver better outcomes for your workforce in the future.

Take the next step

Not sure where your ergonomics program should go next? There are two simple ways to get started.

Book a free DSE and ergonomics program review. We can take a fresh look at your current approach and help identify what you could do next to strengthen your program and wider employee health and wellbeing strategy.

Trial Healthy Working with 5% of your workforce, free of charge. This gives you the opportunity to experience the solution with a segment of your workforce, gather initial data, identify trends and potential risks and see how well it could be adopted by your employees.