Top tips to make your workplace wheelchair friendly

When it comes to accessing the workplace, people with disabilities face a lot of barriers. As an employer, you can help make your workplace more inclusive by making it wheelchair friendly. In this post, we share some of our top tips to make your workplace wheelchair friendly.

Create easy points of entry

When installing furniture, ensure that you are considering easy points of access. Placing items very close to each other or at a weird angle can block the floor area and make it difficult to move about.

Consider the turn radius

Everyone needs to have a 180- to 360-degree turn radius to be able to move around in a room. For people using wheelchairs, this means that you must pay extra attention. You want to ensure wheelchair users do not hit the wall or fall off when turning.

Mount the office equipment

Mounting specific furniture to the walls can help make your office wheelchair friendly. Mounting ensures that the furniture in the office stays in place. This way, people with disabilities can avoid interruptions to their wheelchair path or remain safe from objects falling over if a storm were to occur,

Get the right furniture

Access to the right furniture is very important when you want to make your workplace wheelchair friendly.

The desk is the most important aspect to consider. The width and height of the desk must comfortably accommodate a wheelchair.

When it comes to other office furniture, make sure they are of the right size. Ensure a gap of at least 32 inches between furniture so wheelchairs can pass through easily.

Some important office furniture to consider are storage units, flooring, items with wheels, and entry doors. Look for pieces of furniture that are space-saving and adjustable.

Build accessible infrastructure

Several things must come together to make a workplace accessible including the physical environment, technology and work-day structure.

The physical environment is at the heart of an accessible workplace.

The most common physical adjustments that can be made to a building include the addition of wheelchair ramp or lift access, widening corridors and doorways, accessible toilets, lowered countertops, light switches and handles.

Wheelchair ramps installation in Newcastle

A wheelchair ramp is the most important part of a wheelchair-friendly workplace. After all, without a ramp, entering the office building can be a difficult task. That’s why it’s important to invest in quality wheelchair ramps.

At Easiaccess, we specialise in the supply and installation of modular wheelchair ramps in Newcastle. Contact us today for more information or a quote.