Disabled people have an employment rate that is 37.1 percentage points lower than non-disabled people. While there are many reasons for this such as discrimination, it’s also the case that most office environments simply aren’t designed with disabled employees and customers in mind. Having an inadequate workplace discourages talented people from joining your company and prevents this demographic of customers from buying your products.
To support disabled people into work and create a better environment for all your customers, introduce these initiatives into your office park and buildings.
Put Everything at Ground Level
If you’re building a business park from scratch, you can develop the whole area entirely at ground level. This will support employees who use wheelchairs, sticks, or walking frames and ensure that they can access all parts of the business park. If you’re operating within a pre-existing office park, ensure that there are plenty of ramps so everyone can access everything. Inside office buildings, provide spacious elevators and ramps.
Install Suitable Lighting
Lighting in office spaces should be bright to ensure that those with impaired vision can safely move through and between rooms. Light switches should be installed at a low enough level to avoid your employees having to stretch or strain themselves.
Widen Indoor Spaces
Spacious rooms are suitable for disabled employees, giving those with mobility issues more room to navigate. Don’t ever obstruct doorways or corridors and make sure that the space between each row of desks can fit a wheelchair or walking frame.
Install Tac Tiles
Tactile indicators are square or rectangular stickers or paving slabs that can be placed in spaces where there is an increased risk of slips, trips, and falls. They consist of raised studs and are deployed to alert blind workers of increased risk. Buying tac tiles online couldn’t be easier, nor could finding a handyman to fit them. Install them near staircases, elevators, ramps, and pedestrian crossings. Different textures often alert blind people to different items in their environment, so it’s important to pick the right tac tile for the right purpose.
Automate Every Door
Provide automatic doors throughout your office building to enable all your employees the ability to be independent. When a person walks or wheels toward a door, it should open automatically for them. It’s also a great health benefit for your office, preventing illnesses from spreading via door handles. Remember to install sensors that detect people at standing and wheelchair height.
Include Disabled Parking Bays
The car park in your office park should have enough disabled parking bays. This isn’t only useful for employees with mobility issues, but also for guests and customers. Ensure that the disabled parking bays are easy to identify and inform your employees of this parking option.
Avoid Cobbles
Avoid installing cobbles in your business park as these provide a challenge for disabled employees. It makes part of your business space inaccessible, which is unfair and may prevent disabled employees and customers from visiting your premises.
