What equality law means - Birmingham Disability Resource Centre

For example:
• Supervisors in an organisation are usually employed on a full-time basis. The
employer agrees to a disabled person whose impairment causes severe fatigue
working on a part-time or job share basis. By doing this, the employer is making a
reasonable adjustment.
• The design of a particular workplace makes it difficult for a disabled person with
a hearing impairment to hear, because the main office is open plan and has
hard flooring, so there is a lot of background noise. Their employer agrees
that staff meetings should be held in a quieter place that allows that person
to fully participate in the meeting. By doing this, the employer is making a
reasonable adjustment.
Dealing with physical barriers
The second requirement involves making changes to overcome barriers created by the
physical features of your workplace.
This means you may need to make some changes to your building or premises for a
disabled person who works for you, or applies for a job with you.
Exactly what kind of change you make will depend on the kind of barriers your premises
present. You will need to consider the whole of your premises. You may have to make
more than one change.
Physical features include: steps, stairways, kerbs, exterior surfaces and paving, parking
areas, building entrances and exits (including emergency escape routes), internal and
external doors, gates, toilet and washing facilities, public facilities (such as telephones,
counters or service desks), lighting and ventilation, lifts and escalators, floor coverings,
signs, furniture, and temporary or movable items (such as equipment and display racks).
Physical features also include the sheer scale of premises (for example, the size of a
building). This is not an exhaustive list.
• A physical feature could be something to do with the structure of the actual building
itself like steps, changes of level, emergency exits or narrow doorways.
• Or it could be something about the way the building or premises have been fitted out,
things like heavy doors, inaccessible toilets or inappropriate lighting.
• It could even be the way things are arranged inside the premises such as fixtures and
fittings like shelf heights in storage areas or fixed seating in canteens.
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