Most organisations understand the importance of assessing display screen equipment (DSE). But momentum can fade once the assessments are completed.

Risks are flagged, reports are generated, yet nothing tangible changes. The same issues resurface, employee discomfort continues, and compliance levels slip.

This article explores how to put your data to good use and turn DSE insights into real-world interventions.

Why Taking Action Matters

When DSE issues go unaddressed:

• Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) escalate into long-term absences or even chronic disability claims.
• Eyestrain and fatigue contribute to mental distraction, reduced accuracy, and lower engagement.
• Staff dissatisfaction rises if people feel their concerns are ignored.
• Non-compliance risks increase, opening the door to fines or reputational harm.

Why DSE Data Often Gets Left Behind

Many businesses complete DSE assessments to meet legal obligations, but there are several reasons why findings might fall by the wayside before being used to guide positive change in the workplace:

• Volume without structure: A large organisation may receive hundreds or thousands of individual reports. Without categorisation, filtering, or triaging, the signal gets lost in the noise.
• Lack of ownership: It’s often unclear who is responsible for taking action. Should HR, health and safety, or line managers follow up?
• Manual processes: Assessments stored in spreadsheets or static reports create bottlenecks. There’s little visibility and limited opportunity for collaboration.
• Short-term mindset: The focus remains on completing the task rather than improving workstations, reducing risk, or investing in employee wellbeing.

The Fix: Systematise and Prioritise

• Use digital systems that automatically flag high-risk cases.
• Assign clear responsibility for follow-up actions.
• Track resolution status and keep historical logs.
• Establish recurring review cycles for trend analysis.

How to Make Use of DSE Assessment Data

Putting the data from a DSE assessment into practical use shouldn’t be an afterthought. For truly effective interventions, you need to think practically from the outset.

Setting the Stage: Pre-assessment Strategy

Before you can act on data, you need to ensure the data you collect is meaningful. A well-executed DSE program starts long before the first question is answered.

• Clarify objectives: Are you meeting a compliance deadline, reducing incidents, or improving overall wellbeing?
• Tailor assessments: Make sure the questions reflect the realities of your workforce, including hybrid workers, hot desks, or home office setups.
• Communicate value: Let employees know how their input will be used and what support is available. This improves participation and data quality.

What Actionable DSE Data Looks Like

High-quality DSE data doesn’t just highlight problems — it points toward solutions. To get to this stage, you need to turn raw data into actionable insights. Here are some tips for doing so:

• Use dashboards to view patterns: Are 80% of complaints about monitors? Then it’s time to rethink procurement or desk setup guidelines.
• Build risk heatmaps: Visualise where the highest number of high-risk assessments are coming from.
• Benchmark: Compare trends across teams, departments, or even industry standards.
• Identify root causes: Are posture issues stemming from outdated chairs, lack of training, or both?
• Monitor time trends: Are risks increasing with seasonal changes, policy shifts, or tech rollouts?

Remember, valuable insights should be:

• Specific: Pinpoints exact risk factors (e.g., glare from a window, chair too low).
• Prioritised: Uses risk scores or levels to highlight urgency.
• Segmented: Aggregates data by department, location, or role.
• Contextual: Includes job-specific guidance (e.g., remote workers vs. office-based).

Bridging the Gap Between Insight and Intervention

Once risk is identified, what happens next? Often, the chain of action breaks down. Here’s how you maintain momentum:

Build a Clear Workflow

• Notification: Automatically route reports to the appropriate person (line manager, facilities team, or ergonomic specialist).
• Resolution: Define next steps — self-help advice, workstation adjustments, or referrals for specialist review.
• Tracking: Monitor actions taken, time to resolution, and outcomes.
• Escalation: Flag unresolved or high-risk cases for managerial review.

Example Process Flow:

1. Assessment completed
2. System flags medium-risk glare issue
3. Employee receives self-help guidance + 7-day resolution prompt
4. If unresolved, manager is notified
5. Persistent issue escalated to H&S or facilities
6. Resolution logged, with photos or notes attached

This type of structured follow-up ensures assessments lead to real improvements, not dead-end documentation.

Acting at Scale: Turning Data into Strategic Change

Not all DSE issues are individual — some are systemic. To truly leverage your data, organisations should:

• Inform procurement: Aggregate data can guide decisions on new chairs, monitors, or accessories.
• Update policies: Repeated trends can inform workstation setup standards, remote work guidance, and break recommendations.
• Close training gaps: If many users misunderstand setup basics, introduce role-specific ergonomic training.

Closing the Feedback Loop with Employees

Employee trust increases when your team sees their input leads to action. Let employees know when changes are made based on their feedback, and check in after an issue is addressed to confirm it’s been resolved. Finally, acknowledge managers or teams who are proactive about DSE.

Closing the loop builds a feedback culture where people feel heard and valued.

Make DSE Management an Ongoing Process

DSE risk management should be a living process, not a one-time activity.

• Quarterly reviews: Track resolution rates, top issues, and newly emerging risks.
• Iterative assessment updates: Refine question sets based on feedback or evolving work conditions.
• Annual reporting: Share success stories, risk reduction outcomes, and engagement metrics with stakeholders.

Find out how often DSE assessments should be carried out.

Get Actionable DSE Insights with Healthy Working

Healthy Working, our end-to-end ergonomics software, is built to make every stage of your DSE management processes hassle-free — combining the following key features:

• Personalised, adaptive assessments tailored to different roles and work environments boost engagement and produce meaningful data.
• Automated risk scoring and prioritisation highlight urgent issues while providing instant self-help advice for low-risk cases.
• Built-in workflow management (PACE) streamlines task assignment, escalations, and tracks resolution with full audit trails — eliminating manual follow-up headaches.
• Real-time dashboards give you clear visibility of trends, compliance status, and team performance for continuous improvement.
• Audit-ready reports: Every action is logged for compliance, audit, and management review.
• Feedback loops and behavioural nudges ensure employees stay involved and issues get resolved effectively.

Whether you’re managing dozens or thousands, Healthy Working integrates all your DSE processes into one intuitive, scalable system — helping you turn data into action in a simple, resource-friendly manner.

Get a free trial of Healthy Working for up to 5% of your workforce.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of moving parts involved in effectively acting on DSE assessment data. Understandably, this can place strain on resources and business processes, but you needn’t shoulder the burden alone.

With tailored DSE support from Cardinus, protecting your people becomes easier and more effective. Contact us today to discuss your DSE requirements.