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Note: Access Audits.
THE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT
1995
Goods, Facilities and
Services
The Act is concerned with a number of
areas in which disabled people may face discrimination. These include
Employment, Education and Public Transport.
Part III of the Act also requires
service providers who provide a service to the public to make reasonable
adjustments to their service for disabled people.
Services which are covered include those
provided to the public by:
- Local Councils
- Emergency Services
- Pubs and Restaurants
- Banks and Building Societies
- Sports Stadia and Grounds
- Theatres and Cinemas
- Petrol Stations
- Hospitals and Clinics
|
Government Departments and
Agencies
Hotels
Post Offices
Public Utilities
Leisure Centres
Shops
Places of Worship
Estate Agents, Solicitors and Accountants
|
Reasonable adjustments may be necessary to overcome
both physical and non-physical barriers restricting or preventing access to
the service.
Examples of Physical Barriers include
- Stepped thresholds
- Narrow door openings
- Lifts with no tactile controls for use by the
visually impaired
Examples of non-physical barriers
include
- A Travel Agent's policy that requires a larger
deposit from disabled persons
- A Book shop's instruction to staff to refuse
orders for large print copies of books
- A Fast food restaurant's attitude to a person
with a severe facial disfigurement who is told to sit out of sight of other
customers
It is a common misconception that this Part of the
Act is only concerned with access to the Building. Although
Building access is an important aspect of "Access", it is access to the
Service that needs to be provided.
Adjustments fall into three areas:
- Changing practices and policies
- Providing auxiliary aids and
services
- Overcoming physical barriers
From 1st October 1999, a service
provider has had to take reasonable steps to carry out adjustments under items
1 and 2 above,
Or provide an alternative means of making its
service available.
By 1st October 2004 all
service providers must take steps to make reasonable adjustments to their
premises to overcome physical barriers to access.
Physical barriers can be overcome
by:
- Removing the feature
- Altering it so that it no longer has an adverse
effect
- Avoiding it by reasonable means
- Or providing the service by alternative
means.
What is a "physical
feature"?
A "physical feature"
includes:
- Any feature arising from the design or
construction of a building.
- Any approach to, exit from or access to a
building.
- Any fixture, fittings, furnishings, furniture,
equipment or materials in a premises.
Examples include steps, stairways,
parking areas, entrances, doors, toilet and washing facilities, public
facilities such as telephones and service desks, lighting and ventilation,
lifts and escalators, floor surfaces, signs, furniture, display
racking.
What is reasonable?
When considering what is reasonable
the following factors can be taken into account: -
- Practicality
- Financial & other costs
- Disruption
- Financial resources available
- Resources already spent
- Availability of financial assistance
Good Practice
A service provider should adopt an
"inclusive approach" to providing services to disabled persons by considering
the following hierarchy for adjustments:
The intention of an inclusive
approach is to provide the same service on the same basis to all and, where
possible, not to provide alternative methods for the sole use of Disabled
people.
What action should service
providers take?
Certain parts of the Act concerning
non-physical barriers have been in force since October 1999 and action should
already have been taken to ensure that the requirements arising from the Act
have been met.
Although action to remove physical
barriers is not required until October 2004, it makes sense to plan ahead now.
Some of the physical barriers may be
overcome by carrying out simple modifications as part of normal Planned
Maintenance e.g. new door handles, clearer signs, contrasting colours
finishes.
Other barriers may require more
significant structural alterations e.g. widening doorways, providing
ramps.
Service Providers are more likely to
be able to comply with their duties if they:
- Audit physical and non-physical barriers to
access
- Make adjustments
- Provide training to staff which is relevant to
these adjustments
- Draw the adjustments to the attention of
disabled people
- Let disabled people know how to request
assistance
- Regularly review the effectiveness of
adjustments and act on the findings
How can SHEilds
help?
Our first step would be to carry out
an audit of the existing service provisions - an "Access Audit". This establishes
a Baseline and identifies where barriers, both physical and non-physical,
exist. We will provide guidance on the adjustments that are necessary to overcome
these barriers.
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