How Blinds Help Meet DSE Requirements in Modern Offices

Display Screen Equipment requirements affect almost every modern office. If your people work on screens most days, your business has legal duties to assess workstations, reduce risks, provide training, and control issues like glare and reflections.

Blinds sit right in the middle of this. They are one of the simplest, most effective controls for glare and lighting problems. They also help create consistent meeting rooms and comfortable work zones, especially in highly glazed offices.

This guide explains how blinds support DSE compliance in practice and what facilities managers should plan for.

What DSE actually requires

Under the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations, employers must reduce risks from DSE work and ensure workstations meet minimum requirements. That includes preventing disturbing glare and reflections through workplace layout and lighting control.

HSE guidance also makes this practical. Employers should train users on adjusting screens and lighting to avoid reflections and glare, and provide breaks and changes of activity.

Blinds are one of the direct ways to meet these expectations because they control daylight at source.

Why glare is a common DSE failure point

Glare is not just annoying. It reduces screen readability, increases eye strain, and drives poor posture because people twist away from bright windows. Over time, this can increase discomfort and fatigue.

HSE notes that directional light can bounce off reflective surfaces such as screens and cause glare, and specifically points to blinds as one way to control it.

In practical FM terms, glare issues often show up as repeated tickets like:
Screens unreadable in the afternoon, hot desks near windows avoided, meeting rooms unpopular for video calls, staff using makeshift solutions like paper or tape on glass. Those are signs your shading control is not doing its job.

How blinds support DSE compliance

1) They reduce screen glare and reflections

The DSE schedule calls out glare and reflections as a risk to prevent.
Blinds allow you to manage direct sun, especially on south and west elevations, without switching off daylight completely. This supports comfortable screen work across the day.

2) They stabilise light levels for consistent comfort

Glazed offices can swing from dull to overly bright in minutes. That constant change is hard on the eyes and causes complaints. When blinds are correctly specified, staff can keep light levels stable rather than reacting to every change in weather.

3) They improve hybrid meeting rooms and screen sharing spaces

DSE risk is not limited to desk setups. Meeting rooms now involve large displays, laptop screens, and cameras. Poor shading causes washed out images and reflections on shared screens. Good blinds make meetings easier to run and reduce user frustration.

4) They support training and good working practices

HSE expects employers to provide information and training, including how to avoid glare and reflections.
Blinds make that training actionable. “Adjust your screen” only goes so far if sun is blasting through the glass. With effective blinds, staff can actually fix the issue using simple steps.

What facilities managers should specify in modern offices

If you want blinds to support DSE requirements, the spec matters. “Any blind” is not enough.

Fabric openness and glare control

Openness affects how much light passes through and how well occupants can see out. Too open and glare can remain. Too closed and spaces feel dim, leading to more artificial lighting use. In many offices, a balanced openness fabric is ideal for screen zones, with tighter control for meeting rooms.

Control type that matches the space

Manual systems can work in small rooms where someone owns the space. They often fail in hot desk areas because nobody feels responsible for adjusting them. Motorised or centrally managed systems work better in shared spaces and premium offices, especially where glare follows a predictable pattern.

Consistency across elevations

DSE complaints spike when one side of the floor behaves differently to another. Standardising shading performance across the building reduces those hotspots and makes planning easier.

The DSE focused blind audit checklist for FM teams

Use this as part of your planned maintenance and refurbishment reviews.

Start with the areas where DSE issues are most likely: screen heavy teams, perimeter desks, meeting rooms with displays, west facing spaces.

Check:

• Are blinds present on all glazed areas where screens are used?
• Do blinds fully cover the glazing and operate smoothly?
• Is there visible fabric damage, sagging, or misalignment that lets direct sun through?
• Do staff report glare at specific times of day, especially afternoons?
• Are meeting room screens readable without lights being forced to full brightness?
• Are controls intuitive, labelled, and actually used?
• Are broken blinds being left in place because “they sort of work”?

If you find repeat glare complaints, it is usually cheaper to fix shading properly than to keep treating symptoms.

DSE also includes eye tests, so expect questions

DSE compliance often triggers employee requests for eye tests and, in some cases, glasses for DSE work. HSE states employers must arrange an eye test for DSE users if they ask, and provide glasses if they are needed specifically for DSE use.

Blinds do not replace this obligation, but they reduce the avoidable strain caused by glare and poor lighting conditions.

Why this matters for performance and retention

When DSE risks are controlled, people feel better at work. That affects productivity and satisfaction. Evidence summarised by the World Green Building Council links better indoor environments, including daylight management, with health and productivity outcomes in offices.

For Grade A offices, this also supports tenant expectations. Meeting rooms that work properly and desks that are comfortable all day reduce complaints and improve the perceived quality of the building.

For more information call 020 7700 6000 or send an enquiry.