- Introduction
- Universal Design
- WHS in NSW
- WHS in Victoria
- Architects Liability
- Severity of Complaints
- Standards in Workplace Design
- Gradients and Slopes
- Emergency Egress
- Aged Care
- Application of the DDA and OH&S to Housing
- Adaptable Housing
Architects and designers should be aware that the AS1428 suite of standards provide the minimum design requirements for new building work to enable access for people with disabilities, however, the use of the standards as guides for the design of workplaces is a purpose which was never intended by the standards and if applied inappropriately can cause inadvertent outcomes.
Universal Design
The concept of Universal Design and …More
As of this January designers are now regarded as Duty Holders and or ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ (PCBU) and have extended duties to the end users;- A person who designs a building has a duty to ensure that it is designed to be safe and without risk to health when the building or structure is used for the purpose for which it was designed.
Before commencing design work the client group are to brief the architect on WHS matters and the architect should consults with the responsible person for WHS and identify any safety matters that could be resolved through the design process. In practice the Architect should collect and keep copies of relevant reports such as the asbestos report and WHS report.
If in consultation and research it becomes apparent that there is a history of incidents caused by a building or design element, then the design team needs to address the issue by designing out the hazard or putting in place adequate controls. The Architect must also refer to the WorkSafe website for updated industry specific guide notes and incident statistics.
The likelihood and severity of a complaint under the CW Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and OH&S Act.
The likelihood of a complaint of discrimination is relatively high. Figures from Queensland suggest that of all complaints there are more formal complaints of disability discrimination than sex discrimination. In South Australia a discrimination complainants cases may be funded and resourced by the state government which reduces the financial pressures on a complainant to agree to a mediated settlement.
WHS misdemeanours are prosecuted by well financed authorities who may into the future prefer to defer the costs of a workplace injury claim onto the designer of a workplace should the design be found to have contributed to the injury.
The use of Australian Standards as guides to the design of workplaces.
The inclusion of minimum numbers of facilities, amenities and circulation dimensions for people with disabilities within the BCA has been effective in addressing DDA’92 requirement for access to premises, the new Premises Standard will further reinforce that position and proposes greater certainty for Architects that in complying with the Standard they will meet the minimum requirements of the Act.
However, the access provisions are not to be confused with work place Occupational Health Safety WHS 2012. Workplaces often require areas equal to or greater than the minimum dimension of the access standards and the process for establishing what is required, as prescribed by guide notes referenced by the various Acts, is also a different consultative process.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Division 2 Cl.23 Access to premises, It is unlawful for a person to discriminate against another person on the grounds of the other person’s disability or a disability of any of that other person’s associates:…(c) in relation the provision of means of access to such premises; or…
- From AS1428.1 PP2 Preface; The objective of this standard is to provide building designers and users … with the minimum design requirements for new building work to enable access for people with disabilities.
The dimensions in AS 1428.1 were initially based on studies by J. Bails, Project report on the field testing of the Australian Standard 1428-1977 Part 1 and 2, Public Building Department of South Australia, 1983. Bails analysed the anthropometry of wheeled mobility users and it would be inappropriate to extrapolate and apply the findings of Bails research into a workplace design.
From WorkSafe Victoria, ‘A guide to designing workplaces for safer handling of people’ 3rd edition 2007, PP1
Start Quote
Injuries in health, aged care, rehabilitation and disability services due to the handling of people remain a major OHS issue in Victoria. WorkSafe Victoria statistics indicate that in 2006/07 in Victoria, the health sector has accounted for approximately 8.5% of all claims within the WorkCover Scheme. For employers, this type of workplace injury may lead to WorkCover claims, increased premiums and other indirect cost…Furthermore, employers face the risk of legal action for workplace injuries. From Table Injury statistics in the Victorian Health Sector- proportion of claims- Manual handling related claims Health sector; 58.9%
- Manual handling related claims industries other than health 43.9%
Snook, S and ciriello, v. (1991) The design of manual handling tasks: revised table of maximum acceptable weights and forces. Ergonomics 34.9:1197-1213
PP37 gradients and slopes
The forces required to manually push wheeled equipment up a slope will increase as the gradient of the slope increases. The total force is equal to that required to push the equipment on a horizontal surface, plus a force component due to the slope. It is preferable to avoid slopes where wheeled equipment is manually moved . If this is not practicable, control measures to reduce the force …..(Administrative controls are lower order controls that rely on human behaviour and may be used only in conjunction with, or where implementation of higher order controls such as engineering controls ….are not reasonably practicable). End quote.
The Worksafe Victoria, ‘A guide to designing workplaces for safer handling of people’ is referenced by nearly every other state workplace health and safety authority in Australia within Codes of Practice or Guide documents.
Emergency Egress
The guidelines to the Disability Standard for Access to Premises note;
The premises standards contain Performance requirements for emergency egress, but is not able to provide Deemed to Satisfy Provisions that can deliver appropriate emergency egress for people with a disability.
Cited. D.3 Emergency Egress, Guidelines to the disability standards for Access to Premises (draft)D.3
The guide notes that this situation may change depending on the results of research. Building owners, managers and fire wardens need to determine their area specific evacuation procedures for people with ‘evacuation impairments’ in their fire management plans with regard to the number and type of impairments to be safely evacuated. Architects would be advised to address the issue directly by asking their clients what their fire management plans are, where are the refuges, is there are record of the number and type of people with impairments that require assistance in an emergency?Aged Care
Under the Aged Care Act are the Aged Care Standards which need to be met. The accreditation Standards, No.4 Physical environment & Safety systems has a number of expected outcomes that for the greater part are addressed through the BCA and AS1428 suite of standards. To fulfil the WHS spatial requirements Architects should be familiar with the Victorian WorkSafe guidelines.
Application of DDA and WHS to Housing.
It’s a moot question whether a home is a workplace and or required to be accessible . The community like to think of our house as a home and not a workplace or requiring access for people with disabilities and this is reflected in the exemption of most freestanding houses from the Premises Standards. The DDA’92 and WHS may become an issue in housing when a house becomes a workplace or an apartment building with accommodation and communal areas.
As of May 1, 2011 the BCA will achieve parity with the DDA with the inclusion of the DDA referenced document the ‘Premises Standard’ within the BCA. The Premises standards do not extend to Class 1a buildings (single dwellings, town houses or villa units). Local authorities may require that a number or percentage of dwellings within a development be accessible, adaptable or visitable to fulfil there demographic and health objectives.
Adaptable Housing
The AS 4299 Adaptable Housing standard was prepared to guide designers on creating places that would better facilitate independent living for people with impairments and age related conditions otherwise restricted by stock housing. AS 4299 Adaptable Housing-1995 considers that assistance or unpaid help maybe required on site but generally does not provide for a caregiver or consider the house as a workplace.
From AS 4299 Adaptable Housing-1995, comment on the health and safety of care givers are limited to the following;-
- PP4 ‘The concept will provide safer houses, Adaptable houses will have features, dimensions and materials designed for safety and ease of use’.
- Cl. 3.7.1 …a car-parking space…is necessary to enable a driver to alight, open the passenger side door, and assist a person with a disability into a wheelchair.
- Cl. 3.3.1 (b) Access for emergency vehicles.
The absence of WHS being addressed directly within the standards and building codes puts the responsibility on designers to consult with their clients directly to determine the project WHS and access brief.
Some of the many questions that architects should asked their clients are whether there has been any history of incidents such as slips trips or falls, determine whether the client/s has any particular conditions that needs to be accommodated such as arthritis or vision loss, ask if they have a therapeutic good such as a walking frame and determine who or what level of care will need to be accommodated such as nursing, cleaning, deliveries, family support.
The number and availability of the standards
There has been a proliferation of standards and there are benefits and costs. This trend will continue for possibly 10 or 15 year before the standards start to consolidate into generic free international standards. As a collective what we need to work on is the access and availability of the standards. It’s unfair and un reasonable that a government or court makes a decree, copyrights the law and require the people to pay for a copy. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) includes the standards within the ACT and can be accessed for free.
Conclusion
Much of this discussion has in past been more in the realm of Aged Care accommodation and we’re now seeing the debate extend to private dwellings for reasons such as the aging population, people wanting to age in place and relative efficiencies in providing outsourced services compared with the cost of Aged Care facilities. The probability of a person remaining in their home will depend on how the home facilitates living and care and the standards may need to adapt to the changing demographics and the growing understanding of the needs of a care giver.
Cautionary Note
This Cautionary Note to Architects prepared by Arqua Australis Pty Ltd is subject to Creative Common Licence. Please feel free to reply with amendments and recommendations so that we can consolidate the information and reissue with credits. This document has been prepared in the interest of the democratisation of information and is free.
