ACCESS AUDITS

Certain people or organisations, such as employers, shops, local authorities and schools have an obligation to ensure that people with disabilities receive the same services and opportunities as those people who are not disabled.

LEGISLATION

The Equality Act 2010 requires that reasonable changes or adjustments are made so that people with disabilities can access:

Education
Employment
Housing
Goods and services (shops, banks, leisure facilities, council offices etc.)
Associations and private clubs

If your organisation falls into any of these categories, and the chances are that it probably does, then the Act will apply to your organisation. The steps which you need to take to ensure that your organisation complies with the Act will depend upon which category you fall into. What all organisations do have in common is that they must demonstrate that they have made reasonable adjustments to enable people with disabilities to access and use their premises.

WHAT WE CAN DO

We can complete an Access Audit of your property (or properties) in order to identify any actions which your organisation can take to improve the accessibility of your property, and the services which you provide, to people with disabilities.

During the Access Audit we will assess factors such as:

Approach to the property
Car parking arrangements
Entrances
Movement around the property – corridors, lifts, stairs, internal doors
Toilets
Lighting and signage
Evacuation procedures

The recommendations which we make in our report will focus on the requirement to make ‘reasonable adjustments’. We won’t recommend any actions which could prove too costly to implement and maintain.

If you are planning any construction work we can also provide advice during the design process so that any future accessibility issues can be identified and designed-out prior to construction work starting.

KEY SERVICES

Access Audits
Construction design review and advice
Access awareness training
Design and implementation of evacuation procedures