Posted By ian mcnally Has anyone carried out an impact assessment for DDA and likely implications for construction sites or even got a standard DDA risk assessment format that could assist me in this task or even point me in the right direction?? If I do strike lucky I will be happy to pass it on with the authors permission of course. thanks Ian

Posted By Ken Taylor Do you mean an assessment of the accessibility of construction sites to disabled persons? I have never seen anything generic in that respect and would expect this to be very site and person specific.

Posted By ian mcnally Hi David, Yes I am referring to the pending 1st October right for disabled people to use the power of the courts if they find it unreasonably difficult or impossible to access services and products, but not sure if this will extend to the failure by any employers to meet the discrimination requirements/duties as well? I have had a few people email me directly and don’t feel quite so bad about being a little in the dark. To be honest, whilst I have a copy of the regs and C o P it isn't my strong point, in fact, although I have scanned the documents and put together a draft summary sheet ( sent to you directly). I don’t think it should apply to construction sites. I can only assume any opt out would have to be done under the basis of MHSWR requirement to risk assess. I would be interested to hear your comments. If I get enough information I am happy to email those who request it a collection of observations. (a few already have requested this) I will check out a few websites over the weekend and see if I can find more. Best regards Ian M

Posted By Ken Taylor I am still unsure as to the nature of your enquiry. From October, reasonable adjustments will be needed to provide physical access to goods and services - but construction sites do not provide such. Should the site temporarily affect adjacent access to provision by the clent's undertaking or others, consultation and pre-planning are advisable and a decision taken as to whether the temporary situation would be considered unreasonable. This would be very site-specific. As to access to the construction site for disabled workers and legitimate visitors, this is already a matter for employers (ie Principal Contractor and others) but still rather unlikely to be considered unreasonable discrimination in view of the nature of construction sites and the work conducted there. If you are referring to the design of new-build, extensions and the like for service providers, this is a design issue under CDM Regs. The Building Regs (particularly revised Approved Document M) should be applied in addition to the specific requirements of the Client. Various guidance publications are available from the Disability Rights Commission. Or am I missing something here?