September 27, 2004—The results of a two-year survey of 800 organizations by Workplace Law Group suggest that the vast majority of managers think they are doing a much better job than they actually are when it comes to complying with new disability access legislation.
While many survey respondents are familiar with the October 1 deadline for the introduction of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act, a large number would seem to have paid little attention to non-physical disabilities such as visual and hearing impairments, dyslexia and learning difficulties.
Based on the findings of the survey, around 75% of all UK organizations will be unprepared when the deadline passes. Worryingly, around 70% of those surveyed judged their levels of compliance to be satisfactory or good whereas when questioned on their understanding and what steps they had taken the survey showed that in fact 68% had a weak or poor level of compliance, Workplace law said.
Crucially, the problem is not one of awareness. A recent government survey showed that over 80% of organizations with a disabled employee knew of the regulations and that nearly three-quarters of those offering a service to the public had made or were planning to make adjustments to assist disabled people.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Workplace Law Group MD David Sharp said: “While the majority of businesses have clearly taken positive steps to make their workplace or buildings accessible, the results of the survey throw doubt on whether the message about service has really got through. There’s no point changing your building if you don’t change the attitude of the people who work in it, and that’s where I think the challenge of the next two to three years will lie – especially with a new Disability Bill on the horizon.”
—Elliott Chase
Reprinted with permission; copyright 2004 i-FM
