Accessibility guidelines for new office space (UK)

[JulezH]

Hiya,

I am a teacher and my college are thinking about building a new office for my department. At the moment I am switching between my crutches and my mobility scooter.

I am worried that they will not make this office accessible (they have a tendency to violate fire guidelines and cram as many bodies in a room as physically possible - at times blocking exits).

Is there any guidelines for accessible office space you can think of so I have a bit of ammunitionffor my next meeting with them?

Also is there anything you can think of that I should ask for? (for example at the moment I have a mini fridge with an ice pack and a kettle for my hot water bottle for my bad days).

Any suggestions welcome 😊

[allanah]

The disability act 2016 under the employment section covers it. Look it up in GOV.uk. it covers discrimination against employees eg such as promotion and states that employers must make reasonable adjustments to avoid you being at a disadvantage to other colleagues. My employer changed my shift patterns, gave me a ergonomic chair, allowed me to sleep during my lunch break. It depends a lot on what is perceived as reasonable, for examples if your building may have stairs you cannot climb but they may not have finance to put in a life or the building would not be able to take a lift so that is an unreasonable request.

Also NRAS helpline is amazing for advice too.

Unions are also a great help in these situations and I joined one to help me

Good luck

[Summerrain14]

Have you been given the opportunity to see your occupational health team at work? There is also access to work which is a government scheme which can assess your needs with you and ensure that reasonable adjustments are put into place for you. x

[helixhelix]

Have a look at the guidance here

nda.ie/Resources/Accessibil...

[Hidden]

Anything that you need must be provided by your employer. Do not take no for an answer. People with disabilities have rights.

[Squidlet]

Any new build office would be expected to comply with the Building regulations (Part M covers access and facilities in both domestic and non-domestic buildings/Part B covers fire safety). If they are planning a new build, hopefully they would have an architect involved. If you have specific needs see if you can get that information included on the project brief that goes to the designers. They may well even have an Access Consultant. If they are still at the "thinking of" stage this is a good time to raise and record these concerns.

If you need further information about Part M, rather than plough through the Approved document, try

designingbuildings.co.uk/wi...