Disability Champions Work

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Disability Champions _at_ Work

• 6th Scottish Hazards Conference
• STUC, Glasgow
• 16th November 2006
• Dave Parr Project Worker

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• Disability Champions What is the need?
• Employment
• 50 of disabled people dont have a job
• Much higher figure for Mental Health and Learning
  difficulties
• Fairness at work
• Disabled staff get disciplined for being disabled
• Disabled staff have to use grievance procedure to
  enforce their rights
• Dignity at work
• Often overlooked for progression
• Excluded from social aspects of working life

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• Disability Champions What do they do?
• Educate
• Attend a 5 day training course
• Agitate
• Get disability issues on the workplace and trade
  union agenda
• Carry out workplace audits
• Organise
• Solve problems without the need for formal
  procedures
• Work with the national network of Champions

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Disability Champions a brief history.
1,000,000 Amicus members
Present 7 million affiliates
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• The Story So Far the facts
• Currently 406 Disability Champions from 22 unions
• More than 4000 people have attended seminars
• 10,000 visitors to the website
• Information published by champions relating to
• Specific disabilities
• Adjustments that have been negotiated

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• The Story So Far the people
• Half of the Champions consider themselves
  disabled
• 43 are women
• 36 are aged over 50
• 12 consider themselves not White British

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Disability Champions by union
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• What have we done in Scotland?
• Regional Roadshow Glasgow, October 2003
• Tutor trained from Stow College (Hugh Higgins)
• Amicus Equality Forum Oct 2005
• Ran training course in Motherwell
• STUC Disabled Members Conference Glasgow 2006

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Disability Champions numbers per region
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Disability Champions numbers trained
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Disability Champions Scotland Only
Champions By Union Scotland Only
Amicus
Unison
EIS
GMB
NASUWT
PCS
TGWU
Prospect
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Disability Champions Scotland Only
BAE Systems
Strathclyde Police
Big Lottery Fund
DARA
FR Aviation
MoD
National Gallery Of Scotland
North Lanarkshire Council
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Dundee
Perth
Edinburgh
Glasgow
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• What do we need to do?
• Ensure the training course is adapted to Scottish
  legislation / frameworks
• Develop a strategy with the STUC
• Work closely with the Scottish Regions of Unions
• Run courses in Scotland esp. East Coast

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• What do we want from you?
• Spread the word
• Visit the website
• Become a Disability Champion
• Get this on your unions agenda
• Get this on your employers agenda

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• What can you get from us?
• Advice
• Information
• Well come to you
• Branch / committee
• Workplace
• Training courses
• Via the colleges
• In your workplace

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Dave Parr Project Worker dave_at_disabilitychampion
s.com 01482 382512
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• Workshop Question 1-
• Make a list of reasons why employers may be
  concerned about employing disabled people on the
  grounds of health and safety.
• For each of your issues give an example of an
  impairment that could relate to that problem
• Eg cannot hear alarms (deaf workers)

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• Workshop Question 2-
• Look at your list from question 1, for each
  problem suggest a solution
• Eg cannot hear alarms (deaf workers)
• Install flashing lights as well as audio alarms

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• Workshop Question 3-
• Again looking at your list from question 1, how
  many of the impairments listed could be caused by
  an emergency incident at work such as a fire or
  an explosion?
• Is a disabled person a safety risk or are the
  related issues relevant to everyone?