Disabled individuals in the globalizing world of work

According to Jarvis (1999) the world of work organization has rapidly developed. There was an advanced shift from manual, mass production to technologically controlled production. “Since the 1970’s rapid advances have been made in technology, especially in the use of computers in production. Because it can speed up work dramatically or even replace labour” (Jarvis, 1999: 27).

However how does technology impact on skills and does it prove beneficial to disabled individuals? According to Jarvis (1999) technology requires mental and problem-solving skills more than physical skills.

The above can thus be linked to tackling challenges of disabled individuals in the workplace. The ILO reports that investigations have found, disabled people in the workplace prove to be more efficient than non-disabled individuals. As well as differently abled people maybe more skilled in a specific job than non – disabled individuals.

The above can be proven in the cash management department of one of Sri Lankas banks. At the “Sampath Bank” there are seven disabled individuals employed .One such example is a dumb woman whose works position calls for her to count money. She has proven to be one of the best employees. In that the sensitive task of counting money needs minimal interactions and a high degree of integrity, honesty and attention to detail.

The “Employer Network on Disability” was created to give disabled people oppurtunities and is propagated by the “Employers Federation of Ceylon” (EFC).The EFC facilitates disabled individuals into the workplace by way of placement. Disabled workers at the Sampath Bank prove to be beneficial as results have far exceeded expectations. This has occurred as these individuals disabilities are being utilized as abilities. In that hearing and speech impaired workers, because of their attuned vision and superior tactile skills are particular good at detecting counterfeit notes. Furthermore as proved in Australia, hiring disabled worker is beneficial in that it proves cheaper and only 4% of disabled people in the workplace actually require design adjustments.

Reference: Press releases - Media and public information - About the ILO.htm

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/brussels/news/archives/may2007/news.htm

Globalisation: The Effect on Disabled Workers

Even though attitudes are gradually changing, progress on integrating workers with disabilities and respecting their rights could soon come to a standstill. The problem is the fierce competition between companies in the age of globalization, as well as some governments’ drive to cut social spending and boost labour market participation. Despite a whole battery of national legislation, many employers still avoid recruiting people with disabilities.

According to a British trade union study carried out in connection with a parliamentary commission, employers show various types of apprehension about such hiring: uncertainty about skills and needs, uncertainty about the cost of any adjustments needed to change the workplace, fear of disabled workers’ impact on company performance, the assumption that customers and fellow workers would take a negative view of disabled employees, and the feeling that the costs involved would be too high and would harm the enterprise. Such prejudices are reinforced these days by the fear of losing or never gaining the holy grail of competitiveness, are often at the root of discrimination against differently-abled job seekers. There globalization and the competition it creates has presented many obstacles for differently-abled workers wanting to enter the workplace

Luc Demaret
Editor-in-Chief
Labour Education
Disability – the human cost of discrimination

Globalization & Changing Skills Needs

Globalization is breaking down traditional labour markets and employment patterns. Employers in developed nations and in parts of the developing world are experiencing skills gaps as the speed with which the nature of work changes increases.

Governments are struggling to help populations’ re-skill and there is growing concern at an international level, for example at the World Economic Forum, about the growing problem of unemployment.

• Almost half of all businesses with skills shortage vacancies lose out to competitors due to a lack of skilled workers.

• Just over a third of employers said that they would need a higher level of skills over the next three years. Just over a quarter said that they would need a "broader range of capabilities.

• American business identified recruitment and selection of qualified workers as the top concern for the new millennium.

Many disabled people are highly skilled and represent a significant untapped pool of talent:

• 45,000 disabled students in the UK study at university every year

• 23.9% of disabled people in work are in management or professional occupations

• 2% of the workforce becomes disabled every year. Due to poor employment practices and the need for rehabilitation leave many of these people are not retained by their employers

• At least 1.5 million part time disabled workers are working below their potential
  

Employers are increasingly recognizing that they need to be innovative in finding new sources of talent to fill the skills gaps which they are experiencing. Through examining recruitment and employment practices and processes through the experience of disabled people, global employers will develop approaches which work better for diverse employee groups working flexibly, across different time zones and in different cultures.

However it is important to recognize the link between disability and social exclusion, which has led to many disabled people being under skilled.

The International Labour Organization

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has established a code of practices to manage disability in the workplace which includes the following:

· it is in the business interests of employers to manage disability issues in the workplace, as this can lead to savings in terms of time lost, insurance and healthcare payments and costs associated with recruiting and retaining staff;

· all comprehensive disability management strategies should include provision for recruitment, promotion and retention;

· the management of disability issues forms part of good human resource development practice;
· employers can benefit from recruiting people with disabilities either directly, after a period of training or after a trial period;

· the relevant authorities can play a part in this in ensuring that the right services, such as placement, vocational rehabilitation, skills training and technical support services, are available to employers. They can also ensure that all relevant ministries take account of the needs of people with disabilities in order to aid their integration into employment;

· employers' organizations can play an important role in promoting this issue and in advising and supporting employers;

· workers' representatives can also play an important role by representing the interests of disabled workers and championing employment opportunities for them;

· organizations representing people with disabilities can play an invaluable advisory role in developing disability management strategies.

Employment of Disabled Workers in the UK

(CNN, 2004) -- Any ethical company will tell you its policy is to employ people with disabilities, but actually incorporating them into the workforce is another matter. Many companies are concerned about the profitability and the productivity and also the health and safety aspects in the company, but it could prove otherwise to employ disabled workers. The UK Employers’ Forum on Disability, Remploy, Britain’s largest contractor of disabled people shares the same opinion as Sears and IMB by saying that they are loyal and rarely absent. In Europe there are legislations that prevent discrimination against the differently impaired people. France and Germany have implemented a quota system that entails the companies to fill 6% of their positions with disabled people or else they would be fined (Nick Easen for CNN, 2004).

The UK advocacy makes extra effort to point out that it is not expensive to accommodate disabled people. The Disability Rights Commission says that it only cost $250 per person. Studies by the federal Job Accommodation Network (JAN) have shown that 15% of accommodation cost nothing, 51% cost between $1 and $500, 12% cost between $501 and $1000 and 22% cost more than $1000 Sacha Cohen (2002). There are also UK government funds that help the companies with the cost of employing the disabled as well for the adjustments to the workplace for the disabled worker. The British companies that employ differently abled people are recognized in the Prime Minister’s Employer of the Year Awards.

UK a Public Sector Disability Equality Duty: Trade Union Responses

In the UK a Public Sector Disability Equality Duty has been drawn up which gives advice on how the law can be used by trade unions to strengthen their negotiating position with employers subject to the Disability Equality Duty.

The Duty, known as the general duty, requires every public authority, in carrying out its functions, to have due regard to the need to:
• Promote equality of opportunity

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination

• Eliminate disability related harassment

• Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people

• Encourage participation by disabled people in public life

• Take steps to take account of disabled person’s disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled people more favourably than others.

Regulations made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in the UK require certain listed public authorities to produce disability equality schemes which set out how the authority is going to meet its general duty and its duties under the regulations.

The Disability Equality Scheme includes:

• A statement of how disabled people have been involved in the development of the scheme

• The authority’s methods for assessing the impact of its policies and practices, or likely impact of its proposed policies and practices, on equality for disabled people (impact assessment)

• The steps which the authority proposes to take towards fulfilling its general duty (the action plan)

• Arrangements for gathering information on the effect of its policies and practices on disabled people and in particular its arrangements for gathering information on:

• Their effect on recruitment, development and retention of disabled employees

• Their effect, in relation to an educational body or local education authority, on the educational opportunities available to, and on the achievements of, disabled pupils and students, and

• The extent to which in the case of other authorities the services it provides and other functions it performs take account of the needs of disabled persons

• The authority’s arrangements for making use of the information it has collected, in particular for reviewing the effectiveness of the steps in the action plan; and preparing subsequent schemes.

The key to making the duties successful in organization around the UK is to ensure that disability is truly mainstreamed throughout the organization. Unions in the UK have played a key role in keeping up the pressure on this.

The way these schemes work is, when bargaining around, for example, pay, terms and conditions for employees, introduction of new HR policies etc, Unions use the duties to ensure that proper regard is had to disability equality. Any new practices policies or procedures are subject to disability equality impact assessments. These identify any potential adverse impact, as well as any missed opportunity to actively promote equality, and indicate how it is proposed that any adverse impact be dealt with. They consider every aspect of the duty - so not just promoting equality of opportunity generally, and eliminating discrimination and harassment, but also promoting positive attitudes, and public participation.

If a trade union discovers for example that a local authority employer has failed to have ‘due regard’ to the matters set out in the general disability duty - as evidenced by the absence of any proper impact assessment - in developing a ‘capability’ or sickness procedure, or in respect of recruitment and promotion policies; flexible working policies; pay and bonus policies, reasonable adjustment policies; and potentially in procurement, unions are able to seek judicial review of their decision.

Disability Rights Commission of the United Kingdom 2006

Sumati Nagrath a journalist at Business World conducted an interview on the accessibility of India’s facilities for disabled people.

Sumati interviewed two employees Shivani Gupta and Anjlee Agarwal.

Shivani Gupta is 38 years old and works at a company called AccessAbility, which is a company based in Delhi. Shivani is a specialist consultancy outfit and has an issue with Delhi’s public transport system.

She finds it to be the most “disabled-unfriendly” transport system for people like her on a wheel chair. Due to this Gupta is now a staunch advocate of a barrier-free environment and she is passionate about developing a concept of universal design.

She says that India “needs to create buildings that are accessible and usable by everyone, including people with disabilities,” .She says “these buildings and transport facilities should support the independent functioning of individuals so that they can participate without assistance and with dignity, in everyday activities.” Which is what universal design is all about.

Gupta suggests that it is wise for any upcoming building to provide accessibility at the design and construction stage itself. At that stage, the additional costs would be just about 2 per cent of the total project cost. “Building in accessibility features at a later stage will not only be more expensive but also very difficult,” she says.

Anjlee Agarwal, is an executive director of Samarthya which is a Delhi-based NGO. Anjlee propagates that a barrier-free environment needs to be created for disabled people. To overcome this barriers Samarthya worked in tandem with the Delhi Metro and DTC to make the city’s transport system accessible to disabled people. She say’s a majority of the public buildings and transport facilities are still not disabled-friendly despite the Disability Act (1995) which clearly states that the Central Coordination Committee should “ensure a barrier-free environment in public places, work places, etc”.

Sumati says that the key to solving these issues that people like Gupta and Agarwal are facing, lies in an increased awareness about problems faced by the disabled, and sensitisation and training of architects, town planners and policy makers, needs to be adopted.

Presently Sumati says specialist consultancy outfits such as Raghvan’s Enable India and Shivani Gupta’s AccessAbility are working earnestly to overcome these hurdles. They provide end-to-end solutions in training, employability and accessibility for the disabled.

Sumati also interviews Gupta about the inaccessability of India’s education system for the disabled.

“Education systems in India still tend to exclude those who are disabled,” says Gupta. “The curriculum of these so-called specialist schools is outdated and fails to equip people with disabilities with the skills necessary for employment in the new economy. So, when the private sector comes to recruit, we have an incredibly small pool of people with requisite skills.” Exclusive schools also deny a person the opportunity to acquire the soft skills necessary in negotiating contemporary workspaces.

Inherently Sumati say’s “that even though policies are in place to help provide empowerment to the disabled”, facilities need to be accessible to the disabled, which is a “red carpet to mending their lives”.

Sourced from:"Definitely abled"Published 03 September 2007 in Business World by Sumati Nagrath .Available at http://www.businessworld.in/content/view/2407/2485/1/0/

Representativeness of differently abled workers in American Organisations: Technological advancements to make work easier

Technology has helped many differently impaired individuals in the workplace to do a job that is productive. Research shows that many companies in America have made provisions to employ people with disabilities. In America there are 54 million people with disabilities, but with the latest Census Bureau data it shows that two out three differently impaired people that are capable of working are unemployed. This is the highest unemployment rate. The census figures also showed that 77% of people with non-severe disabilities had a job or owned a business whereas 26% of the people with severe disabilities were employed Sacha Cohen (2002). UnumProvident Corp.'s an American based company employed a worker who was a quadriplegic who needed help to him to sort out ream of paper and scan pertinent pages, but now the company has advanced technology that enables him to work efficiently by himself. The company has established the paperless office for the workers who are mobility impaired and could not operate the keyboard and mouse manually.

Another American based company called Sears Roebuck and Co. also employs disabled workers and believes that it is to their advantage. Recruitment Director Bill Donahue says that Sears have problems finding good talent whether they are disabled or not, but they do tend to favour the disabled workers when it comes to employment. He goes on to say that the differently impaired individuals are loyal and committed to their jobs but nobody is willing to give them a chance in the companies.

IBM which is another American based company agreed with the Sears perspective on the disabled employees. In 1990 the company started a project called Project Able. It focused on employing and retaining workers with disabilities. Jim Sinocchi who is a quadriplegic co-chairperson of IBM’s People Disabilities Executive Taskforce says that, since 1999 the company has hired more that 200 differently impaired individuals Sacha Cohen (2002).

Like the companies mentioned above, the employers can employ talented workers with disabilities with the help of a variety of plentiful and affordable technological products. Theses technologies can help the disabled, with disabilities such as hearing, speech, vision and mobility impairments, to overcome barriers in the workplace.

Skip Simonds, director of UnumProvident's Corporate Return-to-Work Program Development says that it is important for the HR and hiring managers of every company to put aside the perspective of disabled people and hire the best person for the job. UnumProvident's Corporate Return-to-Work Program Development helps employers to develop and implement programs that keep the differently impaired workers at work or allow them to return to work. Simonds suggested that the employees, whether they are disabled or not, be asked this question: “What do you need to do your job?” This allows the worker to state there needs and they are then accommodated in the workplace without making a presumption about a disability. The American with Disability Act (ADA), states that the applicant has to say what accommodation they require. It is then the employer’s job to accommodate the worker as best as they can. If the technology is ineffective it will limit the productivity for any company therefore the HR as to make sure that they select products that are most sufficient for the disabled workers to function adequately. Therefore there needs to be communication between the employee, manager, HR, an assistive-technology consultant and also a medical professional.

Policies in South Africa in Support of Disabled employees

1. Employment Equity Act [1]

· Protecting and promoting constitutional values in the workplace.
· It is designed to overcome the disadvantages that have been endured by historically marginalized groups such as people with disabilities.
· Seeks to promote the constitutional right to equality
· Eliminate unfair discrimination in employment
· Ensures the implementation of employment equity to redress the effects of discrimination and to achieve a diverse work force broadly representative of people of South Africa.

Within the EEA there are various categories of people that it seeks to provide empowerment to. These are black people, women and disabled people, which are off emphasis here. People with disabilities who are employees are entitled to a range of affirmative action measures, including reasonable accommodation. According to the Act, reasonable accommodation means any modification or adjustment to a job or to the working environment that will enable a person from a designated group to have access to or to participate or advance in employment.[2] Designated employers are under an obligation to take positive steps in this regard.[3]
Hence, the purpose of the Act is to achieve equality through affirmative action. The unstated assumption in the application of affirmative action is the intention to remove obstacles to entry into or advancement in employment without fundamentally changing the nature of work and how it is to be performed. Affirmative action does not usually concern itself with providing support to a person with disability so that the person can in the first place enter the job market. While affirmative action may work well with women and black people, external barriers in the employee-employer relationship create disadvantages that make it difficult for disabled persons to establish their employability.[4]

The Limitations of Affirmative Action with regard to people with Disabilities

The application of affirmative action is intended to remove obstacles into employment without fundamentally changing the nature of work. Many people with disabilities have no qualification that can be accommodated by making reasonable accommodation. Although reasonable accommodation is a crucial component in affirmative action, it does not address the impediments faced by people with disabilities. People with disabilities will require more than affirmative action and reasonable accommodation if substantive equality is to be achieved.[5]

The duty to accommodate people with disabilities in South Africa

Reasonable accommodation is a primarily non-discrimination principle and an adjunct to the achievement of substantive equality. In the South African context the duty of reasonable accommodation must be an enforceable duty rather than a mere privilege at the mercy of the employer. Thus the formulation of a question whether the employer has provided reasonable accommodation should be seen as an integral part of determining whether the employer has explored less discriminatory options prior to the discriminatory conduct in question.[6]


2. The Constitution

· The duty to make reasonable accommodation is linked to the principle of proportionality.
· Regarded as an implied duty in a statute such as the EEA, which is required to give practical expression to the achievement of equality under the constitution in the context of workplace.
· Prior to the new constitutional dispensation, the South African legal system intersected with disability mainly in relation to compensation for disabilities arising from the work place as well as in social security provisions.

3. The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act

· This act governs compensation for disability arising from a disease or injury got in the scope and course of employment.

4. The Social Assistance Act

· Determines eligibility for a disability grant for persons who suffer from a physical and mental disability for a period of 6 months or more, which renders them unable to sufficiently provide for their own maintenance. Other than linking ability with functional incapacity these statutes are a limited utility when it comes to determination of disability for the purposes of reasonable accommodation.

[1] Ngwena. C ‘Equality and Disability in the Workplace: A South African Approach’ ( A seminar presentation in the school of law , University of Leeds , England , 29th November 2004. Available http://www.leeds.ac.uk/disability- studies/archiveuk/ngwena/Leeds%20staff%20seminar%20Revisions.pdf
[2] Section 1 of the EEA.
[3] Section 1 of the EEA.
[4] Ngwena C 2004 ‘Equality for people with disabilities: the limits of the employment equity Act of 1998’ (2004), 29 (2) Journal of juridical science at 187 -193.
[5] Supra.
[6] Pretorious .2000 et al Employment Equity Law 2001.

Questionnaires

The objective of these questionnaires is to conclude as to whether promises towards differently abled people in S.A have been met. Mechanisms that have been put into place by the government include the following:
*The development of a draft charter of S.A. that reflects the demands of disabled people- who promotes equal opportunity for all disabled people
*The 1996 Constitution – makes provision to promote non-discrimination of disabled people in the workplace.
*S.A. has also put into place an “Integrated National Disability Strategy” - the objectives being
- The integration of disability issue into government developmental efforts
- Development of management strategies that co-ordinate disability planning, implementation and monitoring
- Programmes of public education and awareness, raising aimed at changing fundamental prejudices in South African society
- A vision: of living in a society where everybody is equal and people with disabilities are naturally integrated into society as a whole and should have the opportunity to express their talents and the like.

Questionnaire: 1 - Julie Parle 10/10/2007

PERSONAL

1. How old are you? 45 years old, born in 1962
2. What is your disability? Explain?
Pharmacelia, which is the shortening of the limbs. The cause of Pharmacelia was discovered to have been a drug induced morning sickness pill, provided to pregnant women. At this present day this drug has become very contaversial, for other curse, such as cancer.
3. Were you born with the disability? Yes.
4. Is it difficult to talk about disability? ? At a young age Mrs Parle said to have struggle to accept her disabilities but as of today I quote, that she doesn’t define herself by her disability.

WORKPLACE
5. Do you believe you have been a victim of another employees passive attitude?
At times of her life she has encountered difficult people, but has found that the working environment in which has worked in has been more of an affect on her life. For example, her working environment at the Petermaritzburg University has caused a challenge in her life but she has over come them on the Howard college campus.

6. Did you have to prove your equality in the workplace? Julie Parle says she has to work “tripally hard” to prove her equality in the workplace and the working environment.
7. Is it practical to move around the university campus and /or is the workplace design conducive to your disability? At the Howard college campus certain understandings were met, where by door handles were readjusted in order to meet Julie Parle’s requirements and her history department is easily accessible with the lifts. Although mobility is made easier for her she still finds it very difficult in her working environment to access certain departments within the campus.
8. In terms of communications do you feel more comfortable talking to another person on the phone or is it not an issue for you? Julie Parle feels that it is very hard to get the message across to be new faces. It takes a lot of her energy to get the message across in order to make people feel at ease.
8. Taking things slowly A small number of disabled workers felt it was better for them to adopt a gradual but planned strategy. They saw it as important not to be too precipitate in asking for workplace changes but to build up workplace relations before asking. This helped them understand employment environments, management styles, personnel changes, corporate priorities and impairment changes:
9. Could you relate to this? Did you immediately fit in or did it take longer then you thought? In terms of Maritsburg, the campus needed for her to become a pushy and demanding person in order to get the access across the campus. She had to push officials to get her basic requirements. In her transfer to Howard college she found that the college campus helped enormously in aiding for her. She gained small appreciation for items that were adjusted right before she stepped foot onto the campus.

GOVERNMENTAL VIEWS
10. Is the government grant effective or not, in the case of disabilities? N/A
11. Do you have support from outside the university or the country? Yes, family friends and loving husband.

12. Do you think there are other ways in which financial aid can be supplied to disabled individuals? She strongly aggress that “YES” there are many ways in which financial aid can help !! For example offering free prosthesis, artificial limbs and spending more money on health within the country.
13. Are you aware of the disability policies that the government has implemented? No she is not, but she makes a valid point, whereby an illiterate person will not be aware of the policy because they are not educated. People who have disabilities must be educated in terms of the policy and become aware of the possibilities being offered to them.

Do you have any suggestions in policy/ laws/ bills acts in which you would feel would improve the conditions and chances of disabled individuals in South African workforce? Public transport is a problem taken up by Julie Parle, where she has made it ineffective for a disabled person, or example in a wheel chair to use the public transport within and around cities.

On behalf of my group (Labglob 2007) I would like to thank Mrs Parle for her time and interest in our discoveries.

Thank you

Todays Events

Today’s Events

The Office for Students with Disabilities (Westville Campus) invites you to participate in their Disability Awareness Campaign on Thursday, 11/10/07 from 12:30-3:00pm. It is hoped that the programme will dispel some of the myths and misconceptions about persons with disabilities and create greater awareness of their needs. All able-bodied members of the university community are encouraged to join the students and staff with disabilities in the Funwalk from the Quad to the Sports Centre. At intervals of 500metres you would have the opportunity to either wheel yourself, use crutches or be blindfolded.

Entry Fee for the Funwalk is a Disability Sticker at R1each, which is available at the Wellness Centre, E, Block. (opp. the Caffe), Office for Students with Disabilities at Room 300B and Room 300C and will also be available at the Quad from 10am on the 11/10/07.


The challenge is yours. Join and have fun.

Please see attached invitation.

Issued by
Centre for Student Counselling and Office for Students with Disabilities (Westville Campus)

The Big Day Out

Our big day out

Tuesday the 9th October, my family and I visited the Ushaka marine world, to discover that the rain would never end, soaking wet and demanding for my grandmother. My grandmother has had four knee operations and two hip replacements; therefore she requires a wheel chair to access any public areas, malls or entertainment area.

Through our difficult time in entering the marine world my grandmother was offered a golf cart to transport her to and through the aquarium, I accompanied her on the fast ride through all the shops while the rest of the family straggled along behind us. Grandmother could not go down to the aquarium therefore we had a choice to leave her behind but getting her accompanied by the same golf cart back to a coffee shop. After picking myself and grandmother up the driver complained that the cart was a security vehicle and not a disabled person’s transporter. He was obviously busy because the rain was pouring down and the whole marine world stood empty the whole day. The lack of effort and accessibility provided to disabled persons within the marine world has proved to have been a challenge for not only grandmother but for the whole family.

The hero of the day happened to be a high spirited and content women, working for “Tysons properties” who herself walked a mile or two to gain access to a wheel chair for my grandmother. If it wasn’t for Barbara Magarth my grandmother would have been further mistreated by the security within the marine world and the day would have ended in tears.

Design Criteria

DESIGN CLITERIA DEEMED TO SATISFY MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR THE USE OF BUILDINGS BY THE PHYSICALLY CHALLANGED.


The National Building Regulation (NBR) – SABS-0400-2000 as amended in the course of preparation, has entrenched within its guidelines, a set of rules and regulations deemed to satisfy the minimum requirements needed to make any and all buildings accessible and safe for use by disabled persons.

The Regulatory Act has been sanctioned by Government and gazetted accordingly. Non compliance of the laws entrenched therein is punishable by law.

The laws have not been stringently adhered to until recently where non-compliance would render building plans to be referred or refused from being approved. Furthermore, those amenities not implemented for the use by the handicap into buildings, shall render buildings being refused for Completion Certification and the subsequent occupation thereof until full compliance is met.

These Regulatory Terms takes into cognizance the following minimum requirements that make any establishment fit for use by the Physically Challenged:

1 That access ramps be installed for the use of wheelchairs.

2 That access doors shall be minimum 1000mm wide openings.

3 That handicap ablution facilities having a minimum width of 1400mm and
a minimum length of 2900mm be provided. Access doors to these facilities shall
be a minimum of 1000mm wide. It should be further provided with holding rails
along one side and along the toilet pan/s.

4. That parking facilities be provided for the handicap having a minimum width of
3000mm and a depth of at least 6000mm. These parking bays shall be clearly
demarcated for use by handicap persons only. The use by any other persons, other than the handicap, shall be deemed a contravention and shall render the offending vehicle
to be towed away and released only upon the payment of a hefty fine.

It is indeed sad that the above meager requirements were overlooked in the design phase of most buildings hence rendering them not to be handicap friendly.

The promulgation by law has now enforced that all new buildings be designed to accommodate the handicapped

Prepared by:

RTM DESIGNS (Technical & Design Services)
R T MANSURA (Senior Pr. Arch. T/ST0235)

Introduction

This Blog provides a perspective on differently abled employees in the South African workplace. The issues that will be discussed will relate to the forthcoming: Historical legislative perspectives; Disability schemes; Skills initiatives; Technological perspectives in conjunction with the labour market and finally the South African paradigm in relation to the global economy.

Historical Overview

Historically, people with disabilities have constituted minorities that have been the object of unfair discrimination and stigmatization. People with disabilities suffer indignity, wide spread discrimination and lack of economic independence. The vast majority of people with disabilities in South Africa have been excluded from education, housing, transport, employment, and information and community life. They have been prevented from exercising fundamental political, economic, cultural and developmental rights. The inequality between the able-bodied and the disabled was reinforced by the injustice of the apartheid system. The laws during the apartheid regime supported the cumulative isolation of people with disabilities. These injustices continue to be perpetuated by prejudices that see people with disabilities as dependent and in need of care. (SAHRC, 20002:7)[1]

Thus, with all these injustices the disability activists in South Africa emerged during the 1980s as part of the boarder liberation struggle against apartheid. The Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA) advocated for the mobilization of people with disabilities to resist oppression on the basis of race and disability. In the early 1990s DPSA negotiated with the African National Congress for the self –representation of people with disabilities. The DPSA negotiations with the ANC led to the deployment of disability rights activists in key government positions when the party came to power in 1994. The government ultimately ensured that disability was included in human rights, and development policies rather than using the welfare approach.32 Disabled activists were deployed in strategic positions in parliament, the National Council of parliament, provincial legislatures, the South African Human Rights Commission, South African Broadcasting Corporation, National Development Agency, public service commission, national economic development and the labour council. (Watermeyer, 2006:46)[2]

Since our new democratic dispensation the constitution has the obligation to protect people with disabilities. The constitution imposes the duty to amend the discriminatory legislation of the past to ensure the protection of people with disabilities. The Constitution,[3] the supreme law of the land in South Africa prohibits discrimination against disabled people. Section 9 provides that everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. Through equality, the majority of people with disabilities can live independent and productive lives, particularly if they have access to opportunities, resources, environments and technical aids that allow them independence, dignity, self-sufficiency and responsibility. Since 1994 concrete steps have been taken to address the ways in which people with disabilities are excluded from mainstream society. Government policies and legislation now reflect the need to promote the rights of persons with disabilities. Laws are a vital component in broader mechanisms to redress the systemic inequalities and unfair discrimination that remain deeply embedded in social structures, practices, attitudes and environments. For this reason, we will be conducting interviews with disabled employees pertaining to the opportunities and failures of the various provisions that have been implemented by government towards their needs. A discussion will also be reviewed on the accessibility of built environments. (SAHRC, 2002:8)

The accessibility of built environments concerns how easily, safely and equally people with special needs or impairments can use buildings, facilities and constructed spaces. Physical and other barriers discriminate against some people by not allowing them to move freely and independently within their built surroundings. (SAHRC, 2002:8)

[1] SAHRC (2002) ‘Towards a barrier –free society’ South African Human Rights Commission. Available at www.sahrc.org.za/towards_barrier-free_society, pdf accessed on the 7th of October 2007

[2] Watermeyer, B. 2006 “ Disability and social change- A South African agenda” HSRC PRESS, Cape Town

[3] Act 108 of 1996

Defining 'Disability'

A person with a disability is limited in one or more functional activities. This may be in seeing, hearing, communicating, moving, learning or other intellectual and emotional activities. The impairment may be permanent, recurring or transitory. It may be sensory, physical, cognitive or psychological. However, people who have very different impairments experience similar barriers and discrimination in society. The extent and experience of disability is, to a large extent, determined by how much the person’s environment prevents that individual from taking part in community life on an equal level with others. (SAHRC, 2002:10)

Disability is imposed by society when a person with an impairment is denied access to full economic and social participation. Society fails, physically or culturally, to accommodate the rights and needs of individuals with impairments. (SAHRC, 2002:10)


Society disables people with impairments by failing to take into account their rights and needs, as groups or individuals. (SAHRC, 2002:10)