A disability-friendly workplace can have a significant impact on employees, and business culture.
Possible changes include enabling mobility scooter access, forming a support group to increase awareness within the workplace and discussing concerns with disabled employees. The changes may be small and often go unnoticed, but can make a big difference.
Here are five ways to create a disability-friendly workplace.
Consider Getting Outside Support
Businesses can’t be expected to know everything about the needs of disabled employees. They can use outside support to provide continued training to all employees. Many non-profit organisations and individual government agencies hold seminars and awareness initiatives to encourage inclusive workplaces.
Form A Support Group
Even though building increased awareness within the work place is a good place to start, one of the most effective ways to ensure that a workplace remains disability-friendly is to form a support group. Within this support group, disabled employees can reveal their concerns and discuss any issues they experience. Use this information to iron out the issues by working through workable solutions.
Make Accessibility A Priority
To create a disability-friendly workplace, install appropriate equipment. This is because the physical environment is essential for individuals with a disability, including those with reduced mobility. To begin with, ensure the correct equipment and suitable storage solutions are available. Equipment that significantly improves the accessibility of the office space includes height adjustable desks, easily accessible plug sockets, adjustable monitor arms and cable management to reduce the risk of trips and falls.
Build Awareness & Invest In Training
Too create a disability-friendly workforce, build awareness and invest in training. An aware workforce is an empowered workforce. For disabled employees to feel integrated into a workplace, all employees should be familiar with the commitment of their workplace, brand and organisation to being disability-friendly. Training and etiquette classes can help achieve this, and provide employees with better insight into how to best manage colleagues with a disability.
Allow Modifications To The Work Day
As well as making accessibility a priority, allowing modifications to the work day help create an efficient disability-friendly workplace. This may involve accommodating employees that require a moderate level of adjustments to the working day. Certain types of medications can affect an individual’s ability in the morning, and energy levels may fluctuate throughout the working day. With this in mind, implementing flexible start times and/or more frequent breaks can significantly improve employee efficiency.
Creating a disability-friendly workplace doesn’t just require new equipment. To make a workplace disability-friendly, look outside the box. Allowing appropriate modifications to the work day, forming a support group for people to discuss their concerns and considering seeking outside support are just three ways to create a satisfied disability-friendly workforce.
