Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended) prohibits employers from discriminating against disabled people in employment, education and access to services/premises. Discrimination occurs where a disabled person is treated less favourably than a non-disabled person for a reason relating to their disability and without justification.
Emphasis is placed upon reasonableness, i.e. employers must provide reasonable access for disabled persons both to and in the premises, as well as making reasonable changes to work tasks for disabled employees. Employers should assess the needs of disabled workers and visitors before deciding upon the adjustments to be made.
Less favourable treatment of a disabled person or a failure to make a reasonable adjustment can be justified if this would endanger the health and safety of any person, including the disabled person in question.
Employers should manage the employment needs of all disabled workers in there organisation without discrimination, but with full consultation. The needs of the temporarily disabled should also be accommodated.
The employer should consider what a disabled person cannot do or can only do with difficulty, rather than what the disabled person can do. The assessor should look beyond the disability and consider which task or workplace adaptations are required to allow a disabled employee to carry out work in a near-normal way.
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How we can help you?
Prince’s can establish if your organisation needs to make changes to comply with the Act. Our consultants will assist you through the process.
We supply a detailed report with recommendations clearly defined.
Our service is cost-effective and provides practical solutions.
We can assist with the implementation of recommendations such as policies, signage and procedures.
You have peace of mind that you comply with the Act (once recommendations have been actioned).
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How does this affect my business?
All companies are obliged to make "reasonable adjustments" to their premises in order to make their services accessible to disabled people.
Such adjustments might include installing ramps/handrails to improve disabled access, putting up clearer signs for visually impaired persons installing an induction loop for those with a hearing impairment, correcting table/counter heights, highlighting danger areas or removing obstacles in compliance with British standard BS8300 and Part M of the buildings regulations.
Problems and solutions vary from one organisation to another. The law states you can make the alterations in four ways:
Removal of barriers or obstacles
Alterations such as adding a ramp, clearer signage, counter/reception height adjustment etc
Find an alternative - for example, reconfiguring the internal layout of a building
Providing a service or access by reasonable alternative means, offering a home service, installing call bells at approved heights, adjusting door opening strengths etc.
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How much do I have to spend on alterations?
The DDA refers to 'reasonable adjustments'. If the cost of an alteration would put you out of business an Access Audit would note this in a report of your building and attempt to find a more reasonable solution still giving you compliance to the DDA.
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Is my company at risk if I don't take action?
A disabled person has the right to sue through the County Court if reasonable changes have not been made to the premises of any business or service open to the general public.
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) have received extensive enquiries to their helpline since it was set up in 2000 with a noticeable surge in enquiries as new disability legislation came into force in October 2004.
The DRC estimates that there are around 10 million disabled people in the UK with spending power amounting to £80bn. per annum. It argues that ignoring the DDA laws means losing custom, especially if competitors have already made improvements. The improvements suggested by the DDA will benefit disabled persons and encourage them to do business with you. In addition, many of the improvements will also benefit other customers, such as parents with pushchairs, people carrying heavy shopping etc.
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How can I comply with the DDA?
In recent research by the Disability Rights Commission it was found that despite one in ten businesses stating that they would prefer not to have to make their premises accessible for disabled people, eight out of ten predicted a positive rise in profits after improving access for disabled people. Businesses need to know that reasonable adjustments are all that is required by the DDA. An access audit will take into account your business turn-over and make suggestions that are reasonable to you and your business.
By arranging an access audit of your business and receiving a full access report, you will have shown to the DDA that you have made the first steps to complying with the act. An access audit will identify the main problem areas, always looking at what is "reasonable adjustment" for your business.
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What Is An Access Audit?
An Access Audit is an examination of a building; its facilities and services, against pre-determined criteria to assess its ease of use by disabled people. The reasons for carrying out an Access Audit are to meet the legislative requirements of the DDA 1995, improve access and in turn increase your custom and turnover.
Having an Access Audit carried out will establish what action is needed. This will take the form of an initial consultation with you to determine your business needs followed by an inspection of the premises. A written report will then be produced. This report will detail ways in which non-compliance exists and will recommend a course of action. Priorities will be given to work recommended. Some items may need to be done immediately whereas other items could be added to a maintenance program or included in a feasibility study.
A full audit will be broken down into sections firstly looking at the approach to your building/establishment. The auditor would then investigate the areas used by members of the public including those used by disabled members of staff. Photographs willl be included in the report (if required).
The Disability Discrimination Act has often become a major headache for many businesses. It is Prince’s aim to help remove that headache and keep you and you business on the right side of the law.
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