DISABILITY ACCESS AUDIT |
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A disability access audit is required in order to help meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, in preventing discrimination against people with a disability.
Examples of disability discrimination may be:
- Lack of accessible welfare facilities
- Inadequate doorway width
- Access only via steps
- Failure to make reasonable adjustments
It is necessary to carry out a disability access audit to establish what action is needed to improve disabled access and egress and in turn help protect your organisation from claims of disability discrimination.
On a practical level, the main benefit of a disability access audit is to reduce the likelihood of people with a disability feeling discriminated against.
On a legal level, the main benefit of having a disability access audit in place is that if a worst-case scenario does happen and a person with a disability does feel discriminated against, your organisation will have a legal defence.
These benefits rely on the disability access audit being kept up-to-date, and recommendations made being acted on within a reasonable timeframe.