Disability Discrimination Act

Since December 1996 it has been unlawful for providers of goods facilities and service to treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason relating to their disability. Since October 1999 service providers have had to make reasonable adjustments to their services for disabled people. Since October 2004 service providers have had to consider making physical changes (reasonable adjustments) to physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access. In December 2005 amendments to the existing Act were introduced in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.and the Disability Equality Duty (DED) was also introduced for government organisations and others standing in their shoes.

Disabled access solutions

SKM Enviros has a specialist team who can offer bespoke solutions to employers/service providers and assist in providing equality in the workplace and elsewhere. Enviros services which can be taken individually or bolted together into a package include:

• Access audits of individual services, sites or portfolios.
• Critical reviews of multiple sites/portfolios to enable commercial reviews, budgeting and planning.
• Assistance with the preparation of access plans.
• Participation with the design team and appraisals of design drawings for refurbishments, lterations or new builds.
• Advising on and preparation of formal access statements and their implementation.
• Preparation of a design guide for remedial works.
• Assistance with remedial measures where physical alterations are required.
• Advice and compilation of formal policies and procedures relating to disabled persons with regards to all aspects of the Act.