Interactive phone-in: Disability. A health and safety risk? FREE to EFD members

10th March 2010, 2:00pm - 03.00pm

EFD Live! is an interactive, radio style phone-in that brings together EFD members and experts to share opinions and experiences. It offers members the opportunity to get expert advice on workplace situations.

EFD Live! on 10 March 2010 looked at the relationship between the Disability Discrimination Act, reasonable adjustments and health and safety legislation.

It was chaired by EFD associate Rick Williams, and the other speakers were:

·        Catherine Cottam, Head of External Diversity Policy of the Strategic Interventions Division at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE),

·        Bela Gor, EFD's Legal & Policy Director, and

·        Kerry Smith, Disability Directions Manager.

Reasonable adjustments before work starts?

One caller asked for advice on providing support to a colleague who is a wheelchair user. Usually, her husband brings the colleague to and from work.but when he can’t she needs help getting herself and her wheelchair in and out of her car, which she parks in the car park. Is her employer at risk if colleagues help her carry her and the wheelchair, which is heavy, out of the car?

The panel advised that no lifting should be done by employees who have not had manual handling training.

In addition, in the case of Kenny v Hampshire Constabulary the EAT held that asking colleagues to help a man to use the toilet was not a reasonable adjustment. The tribunal held that providing an accessible toilet and allowing a support worker (possibly funded by Access to Work) would have been reasonable but using the toilet was not a work activity that the employer did not have to provide assistance with this.

It could be argued therefore that getting to work is not part of the job, and employers should not expect employees to provide disabled colleagues with this type of assistance.. In addition if the employee providing the assistance is injured while doing the lifting and his employer had asked him to do this or had sanctioned it, the employer might be liable for a personal injury claim – especially if he had not been given any manual handling training

A better solution in this situation would be for the disabled employee to make an application to Access to Work for a trained support worker to help her to get to work and in the workplace.

Health and safety: a step too far?

One caller needed advice in a situation where health and safety concerns were preventing someone from working. A decision had been taken for health and safety reasons to replace all desks with ‘health and safety’ approved curved ones.  An employee who needed a straight desk to manage her neck and shoulder pain was, therefore, no longer ‘allowed’ one because other colleagues used her desk when she wasn’t there.  Without a straight edged desk, this person’s pain had become so bad that they were now off sick.

Catherine Cottam had serious doubts about this decision, and told callers that they needed to be sensible and reasonable about health and safety in situations like this. Proof was needed that the health and safety of colleagues really was at risk by completing a risk assessment report, and talking to other colleagues about the impact on them.

Useful links:

• HSE.gov.uk: five steps to risk assessment  
• Disability Directions is a free information and advice service exclusively for EFD members

Who should attend?

• EFD Members, HR and diversity managers.
• Anybody involved in the health and safety of employees.