Accommodating Employees with Mobility Impairments Burr Corley, MSW, Consultant

1. Accommodating Employees with • Mobility Impairments • Burr Corley, MSW, Consultant • Eddie Whidden, M.A., Senior Consultant

2. Mobility Impairments in the Workplace • Objectives • JAN Overview • Accommodations for Mobility Impairments • Emergency Evacuation • Questions

3. Mobility Impairments in the Workplace

4. Mobility Impairments in the Workplace • Accessing the work site • Accessing the work space • Accessing information technology • Maintaining balance • Sitting for prolonged periods • Standing • Walking • Lifting materials • Carrying and moving materials • Lifting people • Driving or operating vehicles

5. Accessing the Worksite • Install automatic door openers • Accessible door handles • Modify the building to make it accessible • Ramps • Chair lifts • Stair lifts • Elevators

6. Accessing the Worksite • Moving employee to accessible location • Providing Mobility Devices • Scooter • Wheelchair • Manual • Powered • All-Terrain

7. Accessing the Worksite • Providing Emergency Evacuation Mobility Aids

8. Accessing the Workspace • Providing accessible route of travel • Modifying workstation to make it accessible • Ergonomic Chairs • Articulating keyboard trays and mousing surfaces • Foot rests and forearm supports • Headsets • Slant boards and Copy Holders

9. Accessing the Workspace • Provide accessible workstation that allows alternating between sitting and standing • Accessible workstations for office settings • Accessible workstations for industrial settings

10. Accessing Information Technology • Alternative keyboards • Alternative mice • Speech recognition

11. Maintaining Balance • Provide safety ladders for employees who must use ladders • Allow use of a mobility aid • Canes • Walkers with seats • Rollators • Wheelchair • Scooter

12. Sitting for Prolonged Periods • Providing adjustable workstation • Using Ergonomic Chairs • Providing Anti-fatigue matting

13. Sitting for Prolonged Periods • Implementing ergonomic principles • Monitor Risers • Articulating keyboard and mouse trays • Foot rests and forearm supports • Headsets • Lumbar Cushions • Copyholders, page turners, and book holders • task lighting

14. Standing for Prolonged Periods • Adjustable and Accessible workstations • Stand lean stools • Anti-fatigue matting • Stand-up Wheelchairs • Ergo-mates

15. Walking • Communicating with email, IM, two-way radios and cell phones • Ergo-Mates • Providing or allowing mobility device • Wheelchairs • Scooters • Walkers and Rollators • Canes

16. Lifting Materials • Job restructuring • Compact Lifting devices • Adjustable lift tables • Vacuum Lifts • Mobile cranes • Tool balancers and ergonomic • tools

17. Carrying and Moving Materials • Carts and hand trucks • Motorized Carts • For carrying material up stairs: stairclimbing hand trucks

18. Lifting and Carrying in Agriculture • National Agrability Project • http://www.agrability.org

19. Lifting People • Adjustable and Walk-up changing tables • Adjustable examination tables • Patient lifts • Transfer Aids • Independent Living products

20. Driving or Operating Vehicles • Steering grips • Vehicle Cushions • Anti vibration seats and wraps • Automatic Clutch • Hand Controls • Pedal extenders • Specific Seat Belts and Seat belt extenders • Swivel seats and Seat Extenders • Lifters and carriers for mobility aids

21. Non Product Accommodations • Job Restructuring • Modified Schedule • Reassignment • Telework

22. Emergency Evacuation • Legal Requirements • Employers are not required to have emergency evacuation plans under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). • If employers covered by the ADA opt to have such plans they are required to include people with disabilities. • Employers who do not have emergency evacuation plans may nonetheless have to address emergency evacuation for employees with disabilities as a reasonable accommodation under Title I of the ADA. • Employers in certain industries may have obligations to develop emergency evacuation plans under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) or under state and local law.

23. Emergency Evacuation • General Accommodations • Employers should have emergency alarms and signs showing the emergency exit routes. These alarms and signs should be accessible and maintained in proper working order. • Employers may want to implement a "buddy system" for all employees. A buddy system involves employees working in teams so they can locate and assist each other in emergencies. • Employers may want to designate areas of rescue assistance. Section 4.3.11 of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) (http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm#4.3) specifically addresses areas of rescue assistance.

24. Emergency EvacuationAreas of Rescue Assistance Areas of Rescue Assistance should have • an operating phone, cell-phone, TTY, and • two-way radio so that emergency services can be contacted; • a closing door; • supplies that enable individuals to block smoke from entering the room from under the door; • a window and something to write with (lipstick, marker) or a "help" sign to alert rescuers that people are in this location; and respirator masks.

25. Emergency EvacuationMotor Impairments • Employers should remove any physical barriers (boxes, supplies, furniture) to insure a barrier-free route of travel out of the building. • Employers may want to provide heavy gloves to protect individuals' hands from debris when pushing their manual wheelchairs, a patch kit to repair flat tires, and extra batteries for those who use motorized wheelchairs or scooters. Arrangements should also be made to make wheelchairs available after evacuation.

26. Emergency EvacuationsSensory Impairments • Employers should install lighted fire strobes and other visual or vibrating alerting devices to supplement audible alarms. Lighted strobes should not exceed five flashes per second due to risk of triggering seizures in some individuals. Section 4.28 of the ADAAG (http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm#4.28) specifically addresses alarms. • Employers may want to provide alerting devices, vibrating paging devices, wireless communicators, or two-way paging systems to alert individuals with hearing impairments of the need to evacuate.

27. Emergency EvacuationsSensory Impairments • Employers should install tactile signage and maps for employees with vision impairments. Braille signage, audible directional signage, and pedestrian systems are also available. These products may benefit other people who must navigate smoke-filled exit routes. • Employers may also want to provide alpha-numeric pagers or other communication devices to individuals with speech impairments so they can communicate with personnel in an emergency.

28. Emergency EvacuationCognitive/Psychiatric Impairments • Employers should consider ways of communicating with people who have cognitive impairments. For example, some individuals may benefit from pictures of buddies, color coding of escape doors and areas of rescue assistance, and information on tape or CD-ROM. • Employers should consider the effects of training for emergency evacuation. Some individuals with psychiatric impairments benefit from frequent emergency drills, but for others practice drills may trigger anxiety. Notifying employees of upcoming practice drills and allowing them to opt out of participation may be a reasonable accommodation. In this case, another form of training for emergency evacuation procedures may be needed, for example providing detailed written instructions.

29. Tax Incentives • Disabled Access Credit (DAC) • Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal Deduction • Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Program • Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program • http://AskJAN.org/media/tax.html

30. Questions? AskJAN.org

31. Mobility Impairments in the Workplace • Contact • (800)526-7234 (V) & (877)781-9403 (TTY) • AskJAN.org & jan@askjan.org