People
            Matters

        		
        
            

        

        

          
            
   
            The
            Disability Discrimination Act1995 – Part III

            
Access
            to Goods and Services

      

      

      
      
The Disability
      Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) 

      
One of the main concerns at the moment, especially if you have a public facing
      business such as a supermarket, food store, pub, bar, restaurant, or cafe
      (the list is not exhaustive) is the final phase of the Disability
      Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) which kicks in on 1st October
      2004.  How will you can deal with it and how it is going to affect the way you
      run your business – and make no mistake, you must comply or risk the
      possibility of very large claims being made against you.

      
Before you start groaning
      about the additional burden on your purse strings, consider this:

      
There are eight and a half
      million disabled people in the UK with considerable spending power.  Degrees of disability vary from people who use wheelchairs, blind and
      partially sighted people, deaf people, people with arthritis, people with
      long term illnesses and people with learning disabilities.  There are also
      people who have had a disability in the past such as severe depression but
      have since recovered. But they have one thing in common – they all have
      to eat! So there you have it, a potential market of almost one quarter of
      the population – huge, and the better you can accommodate them the
      greater your share of this market can be.  So think about your abilities to
      deal with them – not the disabilities of those unfortunate enough to
      have special needs.  Turn the requirements of the DDA around into a
      positive business strategy and you won’t go wrong.

      
You will probably already
      be familiar with many of the issues surrounding the Disability
      Discrimination Act 1995 but let me explain further about the existing and
      new duties on businesses and organisations which are service providers.
      Here are the facts:

      

        

          
      
    
        
        
  • Treating a disabled person less favourably because they are disabled
          has been unlawful since December 1996.
    • 
          
        

          		
        

        

          
      
    
        
          
  • Since October 1999, service providers have had to consider making
            reasonable adjustments to the way they deliver their services so
            that disabled people can use them.
    • 
          
        

          		
        

        

          
        
    
        
          
  • The final stage of the duties, which means service providers may
            have to consider making permanent physical adjustments to their
            premises, comes into force in October 2004.
    • 
          
        

          		
        

        

          
        
        
    
          
  • Part III of the DDA will affect all small and medium-sized
            business – there are no exemptions for service providers on the
            basis of their size. The aim of the DDA when it was introduced in
            1995 was to introduce new laws aimed at ending the discrimination
            that many disabled people face, giving them new rights of access to
            goods, facilities and services, as well as in employment and buying
            or renting property.
    • 
        

        

          

            
            
(Incidentally, while I am not focusing on
            employment here I thought it would be worth mentioning that the
            provisions of Part III includes all employers as well, when
            previously it applied only to those with 15 or more employees.)

            
          

        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
    
        
          
  • As well as your main business, the DDA covers any subsidiary
            services you may provide for your customers, such as toilets, car
            parking, and information.
    • 
          
        

          		
        

        

          
        

        

          
        
        The core of the DDA is to eliminate the possibility that you, as a
            service provider, might discriminate against a disabled person in
            two ways:
      
          
        

        

          
        
    
        
          
  • By treating him or her less favourably than other customers
            because of their disability or
    • 
          
        

          		
        

        

          
        
    
        
          
  • By not making reasonable adjustments to the
            way you deliver your services so that disabled people can use them.
    • 
          
        

          		
        

        

          
        

        

          
        Less favourable treatment means – refusing to serve him or her;
            providing him or her with a lower standard of service; providing him
            or her with a service on worse terms because of their disability.
            You cannot refuse to serve someone because of his or her disability.
            Here are a couple of examples:
          
        

        

          
        
        
    
          
  • A publican refuses to serve a disabled
            person whom he knows has epilepsy.  She is the only customer in
            the pub who is refused service.  In the absence of a reasonable
            explanation – such as that she has no money – a court is likely
            to decide that there has been discrimination.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
        
    
          
  • A party of adults with learning disabilities
            has booked a restaurant for a special dinner.  The staff spend
            the evening making fun of them and provide worse service than
            usual.  Even though there were no other diners in the
            restaurant at the time, the disabled people were treated less
            favourably than others would have been. This was unacceptable
            behaviour – the awareness of the staff of how to deal with all
            types of disability needs to be raised.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
        
    
          
  • A disco ejects a person with an artificial
            arm because he has drunk too much and has become abusive and
            disorderly.  The disco would have ejected any other customer in
            similar circumstances.  The ejection, or refusal to serve, is
            not for a reason related to the disabled person’s disability and
            is unlikely to be unlawful.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
        
    
          
  • Your duty as a service provider is to make
            reasonable adjustments to your business and take positive steps to
            make your services accessible to disabled people, anticipate their
            needs and what adjustments you may have to make. Publicise the fact
            that you can accommodate the needs of the disabled – wider aisles,
            extra handrails, ramps for wheelchairs, toilet/s which are large
            enough for wheelchair access - with handrails.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
        
      
        
    
          
  • Many of these adjustments are not costly and you should continue
            to review them possibly at the same time as you review the cost
            efficiency of your business as a whole and your working practices.
            You could talk to local or national disability groups or trade
            associations to find out what other firms have done.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
        
    
          
  • For example a restaurant/bar which has a policy of not allowing
            dogs may decide to amend its ‘no dogs’ policy by allowing an
            exception for blind people to be accompanied by a guide dog, and
            even have menus available, printed in Braille.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

        

          
        
        
      
        
    
          
  • Access can be a problem if you have stairs, so you should consider
            installing toilets on the ground floor and providing ramps if the
            stairs prevent a disabled person from using your establishment.
            Especially important is to train your staff on how to deal with
            disabled people, to be helpful and courteous and allow the disabled
            to retain their dignity at all times.
    • 
        

      
          		
        

      

      
    
        

      
Finally, a checklist for
      you.

      
    
        
  • Think and plan ahead to meet the
          requirements of your disabled customers and have them in place by 1st
          October 2004.
    • 
        
  • Don’t make assumptions about disabled
          people based on speculation or stereotypes. Think about the wide range
          of disabilities that there are when planning adjustments.
    • 
        
  • Ask disabled people themselves how they
          can best be served. Listen carefully and respond to what they really
          want.
    • 
        
  • Think about the way you treat disabled
          customers. Let them know how to request assistance, and have a
          customer complaints procedure that is easy for them to use.
    • 
        
  • Ensure that you respect the dignity of a
          disabled person when providing them with your services.
    • 
        
  • Establish a positive policy on providing
          services to ensure it includes disabled people. Communicate this
          policy to your staff and monitor its effectiveness
    • 
        
  • Consider putting in place positive
          practices which will encourage disabled people and others to use your
          services.
    • 
        
  • Make sure your staff training includes
          your policy towards disabled people with their legal rights, and
          disability awareness and disability etiquette training
    • 
        
  • Regularly review whether your services
          are accessible to disabled people.
    • 
        
  • Don’t wait until October 2004 to
          remove any physical features of your buildings that create a barrier
          to access for disabled people. Consider doing this at the same time as
          any building or refurbishment work you are planning which could help
          reduce costs and disruption.
    • 
      

      
 

      
I hope you have found the
      above useful and that the requirements of the DDA do not have to be too
      onerous, especially when you consider the benefits you can enjoy through
      additional business.

      
If you visit www.disability.gov.uk
      you will find additional useful information, some extracts of which appear
      in this article.

      
Draft regulations can be
      viewed on www.dti.gov.uk/er/equality/disabilityregs.pdf

      
      
Diane Mark Consultancy London – The
      People Business

      
Source: DDA Introduction for Small and Medium-sized
      businesses
      

      
 

      
      
Diane Mark has written this
      for
      
 The Food Club
      
        and she is a
      Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
      with over 25 years experience dealing with all types of HR and employment
      issues.  These range from the preparation and implementation of
      recruitment strategies; ensuring good practice and procedures are in
      place; employee relations; dealing with sensitive personnel issues through
      to terminating the contract, including managing redundancy. 
      
      
      
      

      
      
If you need further advice
      or consultation on the implications of the DDA or if there are any other
      employment related topics you would like covered in future guidance notes
      you can contact Diane at info@dianemark.com. 
      Her web site is www.dianemark.com
      

      
    		
    
  



     
  
 



Last updated 9 March 2010