There are many factors within the office environment that employers commonly consider to improve the comfort and well-being of their workforce. Ensuring that staff has comfortable and supportive seating, that computer screens are appropriately positioned for working, providing arm rests to reduced repetitive stress injuries, provision of rest areas and a supply of tea, coffee, water and if you’re really lucky, biscuits.
Employers may believe that they are meeting all their staffs need. However, a commonly overlooked consideration is the overall office accessibility. Poor accessibility can not only impact on the immediate workforce but also have wider implications on prospective future applicants, potential stakeholders and customers too.
Questions your business should be asking are:
- Are you missing out on great talent due to poor access?
- Are you meeting your wider ‘equal opportunities’ obligations?
- Is the working environment safe for all users?
- How can you make accessibility easier and safer?
Equal Opportunities
As an employer, your business has a legal responsibility, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010, to provide equal opportunity to potential employees from all walks of life. Accessibility can be a factor for those suffering with a disability, and where reasonable and practical, every effort should be made to accommodate those with mobility issues. What’s more, if your office is a customer-facing space, your customers or stake holders may also require access assistance. By failing to implement an access and egress strategy you may not only risk missing out on exceptional talent for your workforce, but you may also alienate potential business relationships who may take their business elsewhere.
Factors may include adapting bathroom facilities, providing ramps to enter or exit the building or implementing priority parking initiatives for example. If your office space is not on ground floor level then you may want to consider getting a quote from a popular lift supplier to review options for lift installation or adaption. Lifts can enable access not just for those suffering from disability but also the elderly, injured, pushchairs, suppliers and deliveries and your workforce; it is highly advantageous, particularly within a client-facing environment.
Creating Safe Access
Access encompasses many areas. Consider the whole vicinity that falls within your responsibility and conduct a full risk assessment from point A to point B. If your office has private parking, then your responsibility can begin even before your staff enter the car park. You can consider implementing a protocol for driving in severe weather conditions, this may involve asking staff not to drive to work or to work remotely on occasions where it is deemed high risk to drive. Once on site, consider speed limitations, crossing areas, designated pedestrian zones, close proximity parking for disabled drivers or even implementing an initiative for car sharing to reduce traffic. Consider the outside terrain, are pathways maintained and non-slip, are ramps available or handrails provided for stairways? Are stairways clear, sufficiently maintained and wide enough for the number of staff in the event of an emergency? Have you got an effective emergency evacuation plan and congregation point allocated in the event of a fire or other concern? Ensuring safety at work should form a core part of your company’s’ culture and all these elements should be risk assessed to make sure they meet the needs of all potential users.
Implement Change
Once you have identified access areas that require addressing, you can begin to implement the necessary changes. There may, of course, be a financial outlay, but it is a small price to pay to ensure the safety of yourself, your staff and your visitors. Safety is paramount, and the cost of failing to provide ease of access could be significantly more in the event of injury, an emergency or by not meeting your legal obligations.
