One of our clinical staff is disabled and states he requires a mobility scooter to access various areas within the hospital to perform his job - clinical and non clinical areas. He must go to the areas to perform his job. The jobs cannot be brought to him due to clinical issues / infection control Should we authorise the provision of the scooter or are the risks to many Case for: Will assist in evacuation if required. A PEEP is in place to contact a buddy if required Case Against Servicing and maintenance and charging issues Is it now work equipment? - PUWER Does it come under LOLER Obstacle in case of fire evacuation Lack of available storage areas due to infection control issues in clinical areas Insurance liabilities in case of accident / collision with other persons Training Any advice appreciated if other ealthcare premises have come across this issue Thanks SBH

A very interesting conundrum SBH. I'm assuming that your relevant site is within the UK? The basic question is - Just what is a "Reasonable Adjustment" under the Equality Act in this context? The "Pros & Cons" questions that you have posed will be essential to balancing your compliance under HSWA and the FSO or regional equivalents; and only your organisation can do this. My view of your questions:- A PEEP that requires contacting a "Buddy" for evac is probably not defensible. If your organisation provides, then it's work equip whilst at work but not LOLER unless a very unconventional scooter. Whoever provides, a suitable training package should be designed and provided; it should include how the other occupants of the premises should behave around the scooter and expecially include an evac session in the PEEP. For fire evac the PEEP should address the possibility of the scooter becoming an obstacle or evac hazard for others. Storage v infection - not clear what you're considering here. The use of the scooter should be notified to your insurers for their consideration under your Employers Liability Insurance. I would add another couple of questions:- Does this person require to change levels during their duties around the building? If so, how is this achieved in an evac? In relation to the infection control topic - how will you ensure that the mobility scooter does not become a source of inward or outward contamination? In relation to battery charging - how will this be achieved without compromising your FRA? Whilst I have some thoughts on this, I have insufficient info to put them into print here. Hope that helps Frank Hallett

Provided a thorough risk assessment is carried out and adequate controls put in place there should be no reason for you not to provide the employee with the necessary equipment to enable them to do their job, assuming it has been determined that they actually do need it that is. You will of course have to consider such things as training, maintenance, inspection, daily checks, storage etc just as you do with all other equipment. These scooters are designed to be used indoors and I am guessing you are in a hospital environment from the clues, where often times much larger vehicles such as golf carts are regularly employed without incident. Your ra should identify any areas where it is not suitable to use the scooter and if this is the case you could possibly have someone else cover these areas.

Of course your hospital may not be fully accessible or properly equipped for non ambulants - spme do not even have disabled toilets on every floor or the door openings are less than the B Regs 800mm clear opening. However why should provision be a problem? Subject to proper RA and controls Bob