Dan Williams, Founding Director of workplace accessibility and inclusion experts Visualise Training and Consultancy, looks at how challenges faced by employees with hearing loss or visual impairment can be overcome.
Hearing loss, deafness, tinnitus and sight loss affect 14
million UK people so being fully aware and catering for the requirements of any
staff members with additional needs is essential for inclusive employers.
As these disabilities are often invisible, employers need
to be aware of the barriers colleagues may be facing, so speaking openly about
how hearing or sight loss affects their ability to work is vital.
This may cause inhibition, embarrassment and anxiety and as
a result, pretending all is fine and understating the effects is common so
encouraging employees to speak out in a relaxed face-to-face environment helps.
Ideally, hearing and sight checks should accompany regular
staff health reviews in a reassuring way to communicate that support is
available. If any changes to hearing levels or sight are identified, employees
may need to be granted time off to attend follow-up appointments.
If conducting online or face-to-face DSE assessments, do you
ask employees if they experience hearing or sight difficulties? With hearing
loss, these may include problems with background noise, hearing on the phone or
in meetings and not hearing the fire alarm when in isolated areas such as
bathrooms and stairwells. Sight loss challenges may include difficulties with
reading small print or text on the screen, glare, dry eyes and increased
instances of trips and falls.
For most employees with one or more of the above conditions,
there should be no need to change jobs as extensive support and adjustments are
available.
A workplace assessment will identify any issues that may be
worrying an employee and the follow-up report will recommend implementing often
quite simple adjustments to ensure employees can perform their roles more effectively.
As you’ll know, employers are under a legal obligation to
make reasonable adjustments to ensure that employees with health-related
barriers can perform their roles without unfair disadvantages.
Employers are sometimes concerned about this, expecting
dramatic change and huge costs, yet a few easy-to-implement adjustments which
are often free or relatively low cost can make a significant difference.
With today’s
assistive technology, there is an excellent range of devices designed to
facilitate accessibility and communication for colleagues.
Visualise has produced two videos to highlight the barriers and potential solutions:
Hearing Loss, Deafness and Tinnitus Needn’t Mean Job Loss
Struggling to see at work? A Workplace Assessment will help…
As well as helping employees successfully develop their careers, workplace assessments can also help colleagues to feel included and valued as part of the team.
Staff awareness training is also a key element in promoting accessibility and inclusion. Explore the options at https://visualisetrainingandconsultancy.com/training.
Hearing loss, deafness, tinnitus and sight loss needn’t mean job loss, so to find out more or to make a referral, please visit https://visualisetrainingandconsultancy.com/workplace-assessments.
Dan Williams, Founding Director of Visualise Training and Consultancy, pictured here with his guide dog Zodiac.
