DDA Complaince in the Workplace

What is in the DDA ?

Under the DDA, small to medium sized businesses have to make ‘ reasonable adjustments ' so they do not discriminate against disabled customers or employees. This may affect the way you treat your staff, job applicants and customers.

The law has been designed so that you only have to make reasonable changes, but if you fail to do what is reasonable, a disabled person could take legal action against you for treating them unfairly.

If your organisation is not accessible to disabled people, you could be missing out on a lot of potential customers.

The DDA covers the following:

Employment
Access to goods
Facilities and services
The management, buying or renting of land
of property
Educational establishments

Many of its measures have already become law.  It is aimed at ensuring that disabled people are not discriminated against terms of the way services are offered.
Under Part 3 of the Act, from October 2004 service providers will have to ensure that the physical features of their premises do not create barriers to access.

What is the DSE Regulation ?

Display Screen Equipment (DSE) regulations came into force in the early 1990s to ensure that workers using computers did so in a health conscious way. The regulations are intended to prevent  health problems occurring including
musculoskeletal disorders, eye fatigue and mental stress, by promoting good ergonomic design of equipment  furniture, the working environment and job tasks.

How will it effect my business ?

The DDA and the DSE will effect your business, the way you deal with customers, your staff and your general working environment in a number of different ways.

The DDA is forcussed on accessibility.  If you provide a service, then your premises must be accessible to the disabled.  The DSE staff operating or accessing computer terminals, work to ensure that they are following correct  safety guidelines.

As such, you may have to make physical alterations to your premises and change your working policies to ensure that you meet the requirements of this legislation.

High level counters can limit access to wheelchair users where as low level reception counters are much more user friendly

What are my legal obligations ?

Under the DDA, your organization provides a service you must take reasonable steps to overcome physical barriers by either :

1. Removing them
2. Altering or adapting them
3. Providing reasonable means to avoid or overcome them
4. Providing an alterative means of offering the service

Under the DSE, some of the employer's key duties include the following :

1. Analysing workstations and assessing and reducing risk
2. Ensuring workstations meet minimum requirements
3. Planning work so there are breaks or changes of activity.

Furniture that blends your existing working environment yet ensures you meet the requirements of the DDA and the DSE, is now a reality - Online Desks Ltd has a selection of office furniture ready to purchase securely online now, please click the link below :

Height Adjustable Office Desks - choose from manual height adjustable desks to fully motor driven adjustable desks

We will be adding office furniture related DDA complaint products to our website as we source them from the leading UK and European manufacturers.

If you need more information about DDA Compliance in your office then please goto the Governments DWP website where you will find everything you need to know and how it might effect your office