Disability Discrimination
Disability rights in everyday life
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) is legislation that promotes the rights of people with disabilities and protects them from discrimination.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act (2005), small to medium sized businesses have to make reasonable adjustments so they do not discriminate against disabled customers or employees.
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.
In the event of an emergency such as a fire, it's vital that everyone within a building is capable of recognizing and responding to a raised alarm unaided or that some other management system is in place to ensure that a disabled person is able to respond to an emergency evacuation.
Disability Discrimination: What does the law say?
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA 2005):
- Service providers (businesses) have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to physical features of their building including fire safety provision.
The following are examples of alarms systems Basingstoke Fire Protection can provide that address the needs of people with disabilities.
Audible & visual alarms
Many locations have now installed a combination audio/visual system which caters for both visual and hearing impairments.
Vibrating pagers
Within a building fitted with an audible alarm, the system is designed so that a certain level of decibels is reached in all parts of the building. Whilst the same level of coverage should apply to a visual alarm system, to fit a warning light to every individual room would not be practical. In order to overcome this situation, vibrating pagers can be issued to hearing impaired staff and visitors.
Vibrating pads
These work in a similar manner to vibrating pagers and are most commonly used in hotels or similar accommodation. The vibrating pad is located under a pillow on the bed and in the event of a fire alarm in the middle of the night the movement of the pad wakens the hearing impaired person.
Recorded messages
A voice alarm system incorporating a pre-recorded message is sometimes used in premises where there are large numbers of people. The purpose of this type of system is to minimize panic in the event of any emergency. Rather than a traditional audio alarm signal, a recorded message is transmitted instructing people, for example, "to leave by the nearest exit".
Please contact us for more information on how the Disability Discrimination Act influences your business.
