I was once presented with a list of people to assess for a city centre company with limited parking and not enough designated disabled spaces. All were blue card holders and the system was whoever got there first got a disabled space, their starting times got earlier and earlier with increasing daily arguments and bad feeling. It was a nightmare to assess them and in the end I had a frank discussion with the HR Director about whether they needed to increase disabled parking spaces but obviously this would decease designated senior management car parking spaces (of which there were quite a few). It gave her another headache but resolved the issue – she agreed in the end it was a management issue and unfair to delegate decision making to OH. They also agreed that a couple of spaces could be released temporarily (so staff using them had to park elsewhere) when we brought someone back to work early, after surgery etc, who needed one although the preference was to pay for a taxi instead.
Not convinced about the legal obligation statement, taxi option seems like a sensible adjustment and reasonable in the context of the bigger picture.
Karen
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of sharon naylor
Sent: 13 January 2014 07:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [OCC-HEALTH] Disability issues - whose responsibility?
I agree Cath - however problems arise when it starts to get murky about whose advice is most relevant , whether that advice differs, or who has the contractual remit to advise. internal or external OH? GP or other health professional? The logistical issues can be a nightmare, esp in city centre premises as there may not be enough spaces to go around. I think if you have an organisation that eg employs 4000 staff, have over 2000 contractors potentially on site in any given day and have limited space then the people allocating the spaces are really up against it.
In my practise, whoever the individual works for, I give an opinion as to whether parking on site (or any other altertaion/restriction), is in my opinion
1. Essential
2. Highly desirable
3. Nice to have if available or operationally viable
and if the adjustment is needed temporarily (with time scales) or permanent. I tend to go for full OH assessment, occasionally I have talked to people who (eg) manage to navigate around Tescos to do the weekly shop on a regular basis, drive long distances for recreational purposes and take walking holidays in the Outer Hebrides but cannot possibly manage more than a few yards from the front door..............
Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2014 21:46:41 +0000
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [OCC-HEALTH] Disability issues - whose responsibility?
To: [log in to unmask]
Interesting thread, here's my 2p worth, posession or not of BB blue badge not withstanding. Are companies not now supposed to be treating everyone on thier premises equally? whether employee, contractor or agency staff. Recd OH assessment and as always, impartial opionion, then it's up to the company to do as they see fit, based on our expert advice.
Catherine Farrimond