Access All Areas In The Workplace

Most of the coverage surrounding the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) tackles the legislation from the point of view of public access to goods and services. What must a building owner or service provider do to ensure complete compliance? The DDA applies equally in the work place. Most employers should by now be aware of their duties towards their customers. Are they aware, however, that in relation to employment, the DDA makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against disabled people for a reason related to their health condition when, for example, selecting people for a job or deciding who to promote or give a wage rise?

Employers also have a duty under the DDA to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled people. Whilst employers are not obliged to make adjustments in anticipation of employing a disabled person, he or she would have to put forward a detailed justification should a disabled job applicant, or employee who becomes disabled, feel discriminated against. The costs involved are often put forward as being prohibitive. But they need not be. Under the Government’s Access to Work scheme, many disabled employees may be eligible for a grant, which will meet some or all of the cost.

The Access to Work programme is run by the Employment Service. It provides financial assistance towards the extra costs of employing someone with a disability. It is equally applicable to unemployed and self-employed people. Grants are available to cover a wide range of circumstances. For example, a deaf or hearing impaired person can get assistance from a communicator at a job interview. Access to Work can also help with the cost of altering the physical features of the workplace in order to provide access. Installing a small lift so that a disabled person can get to a first floor office is the type of alteration that would be considered.

In the public sector, platform lifts are widely used to provide an alternative means of access for the less able. Many theatres, leisure centres, pubs and restaurants see them as a cost-effective route to DDA compliance. Schools and Colleges, pursuing inclusive education policies, often install low-rise platform lifts to overcome small changes in level, which could prevent wheelchair access to a particular building or class room. By the same token, their use is equally applicable to the workplace. Unlike traditional passenger lifts, a platform lift has no lift car. It consists of a platform which moves within a stationary shaft. Most platform lifts are supplied as completely self-contained units and do not need a wall or additional structure for support. They are designed to be unobtrusive and to fit into the surrounding area. Platform lifts, therefore, provide a very cost-effective installation, generally requiring little or no modification to the existing building.

Government statistics show that in the twelve months between April 2000 and March 2001, Access to Work helped nearly 19000 job seekers to find employment and assisted a further 5781 disabled people to keep their existing jobs. These are impressive statistics. Access to Work advisers are contactable via local the local Jobcentre Plus. They have in-depth knowledge of the scheme and can advise disabled people and their employers how to overcome workplace barriers. To find out more visit the Jobcentre plus web site, where you will find a very useful summary of the Access to Work programme.

top