People with disabilities make up a large part of the population, however, if you look around your local town, you’ll probably find that these numbers aren’t correctly represented. When it comes to employment, workplaces can’t refuse to hire somebody who’s good for the job simply because they are disabled, but many companies fail to make even the simplest of adjustments that are needed in order to help staff with disabilities carry out their work to their full potential. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the needs of your disabled staff are properly met. Read on to find out how to ensure that your workplace is disability friendly.
Improve Disabled Access
Access is often one of the main issues for people with disabilities. Wheelchair users find it extremely difficult to get into a building that doesn’t have a wheelchair ramp, and disabled drivers will often need some extra space in order to get in and out of their vehicle. If you take on a disabled employee, it’s vital that they are able to access their place of work comfortably. For somebody who is on crutches or is a wheelchair user, an elevator is necessary if there are flights of stairs to take or if the area they will be working in is above ground floor. If you don’t already have disabled parking, make sure that you designate a space especially for them which has the amount of room that they need.
Work Adjustments
Disabled workers should be treated equally to, and given the same opportunities as, all of your other employees, and they should be given the same access to training, facilities and recreation. As an employer, it’s down to you to ensure that this is fulfilled. Depending on your employee’s disability, there are a number of different adjustments around the office that may need to be made. For example an employee with dyslexia may need to be provided with different colored paper or may need extra time to complete training. The adjustments that you need to make should be identified and put in place before the employee commences work, in order to avoid any office disruption.
Diversity Training
It is absolutely unacceptable for other members of staff to be ignorant or unaware of how to treat and interact with a disabled colleague, which is why it’s crucial that you implement diversity training in your workplace. In order to keep on top of this, all management and members of staff should undergo diversity in the workplace training at least once a year to ensure that everybody is fully aware of any recent government legislation. Any misconduct involving a disabled employee should be taken extremely seriously and not be tolerated, and it should be acknowledged that diversity training is important to people’s rights and feelings.
Are you a disabled worker? How does your workplace make it easier for you to do your job? Or, have you had a bad experience with an employer? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments.
