[modeleng] Disability Discrimination Act
- From: "alanjstepney" <alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <modeleng@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 6 Oct 2004 21:23:14 +0100
On 1st October, the Disability Discrimination Act came into force.
I understand that this applies to all clubs and organisations that allow
entry by the public.
Are clubs aware of this?
Are any doing anything to comply with this Act?
I suspect that many Model Engineering Societies may not be aware of it, and
perhaps it would be a good idea to bring it to the attention of the
committee at YOUR club.
Disability does not just mean wheelchair, it means anybody with a
disability, be it hearing, visual, physical, mental, {as well as
wheelchair.}
Clubs / company / whatever, need to have assessed and documented that they
have assessed their property railway and buildings for disabled access
facilities. You need to be able to demonstrate that the due diligence and
reasonable assessment has been made.
if the club / organisation has identified an area where it could comply,
subject to spending £X, and has applied for a grant for that amount, (I
gather such grants are available), that is reasonable evidencs that action
is being taken.
The act provides a let out that facilities do not have to be provided if
it is
unreasonable or impractical to do so. The guidance advice says quite
clearly that not being able to afford to comply it cannot be seen to be the
case unless all reasonable avenues of funding have been
investigated. Quite reasonably the law say you cannot know that it cannot
be afforded if you have not asked anyone else if they will help you pay for
it.
It is a legal requirement that all employers (including of unpaid
volunteers) provide staff training
regarding the treatment of people with disability and importantly to
understand what counts as disability. Specific training is appropriate for
all operations including kitchen/clubhouse shop ticket office
etc.
I must add that this is only MY view of this Act, and someone who knows the
Law may have a different opinion.
In any case, it is probably safest to find out exactly what is required,
rather than fall foul of the law.
alan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.alanstepney.info
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