What Is The Disability Discrimination Act?
The Disability and Discrimination Act (DDA) was created in 1995.
It's purpose was to give equality to disabled people when accessing public and commercial areas. This meant that all commercial and public buildings must make the necessary requirements to support and assist disabled people and those with low mobility who require access.
The DDA legislation is now a part of The Equality Act of 2010 which is the most up to date legislation in law that protects people from discrimination in the workplace and wider society.
A Brief Timeline of DDA History:
Why DDA is important to install.
Disabled people make up 15 million of the UK population and the chances are high that they will need to access your buildings. It's important that employees and the public don’t feel discriminated against by your business as this can effect company reputation and employee morale.What Are The Requirements?
DDA regulations state that handrail must be provided in public and commercial areas. Especially for use on stairways and ramps. Not only this but all installations must follow exact details on what height, shape & temperature the handrailing needs to be.
In other words, the DDA handrail needs to be easy and comfortable to grab, and warm to the touch.
There are two ways of creating and installing DDA compliant handrail:
One - A bespoke designed fabricated system which is made from components that are welded together to create a completed structure.
This system is handy for more bespoke requirements, however it would need a competent fabricator, site survey, detailed drawings or a first fix before final installation. This can take up a lot of time, skill and labour costs as well as being harder to maintain or replace due to the nature of the bespoke fabricated parts.
Two - A modular system made from mix-and-match components that can be easily installed for a wide range of applications.
This system does not require complex drawings, site surveys or any extra fixes before installation. It also does not require a lot of skill to install as it is made from off the shelf components that can easily be assembled. Spare or extra parts are also easier to maintain and replace if needed.
At Lockinex we offer a fully compliant DDA component system.
Take a look at our DDA technical brochure or contact a member of our sales team to find out how we can help with your upcoming projects today.
References:
- https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/check-what-type-of-discrimination-youve-experienced/duty-to-make-reasonable-adjustments-for-disabled-people/
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/contents
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-and-use-of-buildings-approved-document-m
- https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9602/