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Sheffield Hallam University: MSc: Hospitality Assignments
Assignment 3: Special Needs - Disability
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Table of Contents
Introduction and Background 2
Current practice and policies in Spain 2
International perspective in the Hospitality Industry 2
United Kingdom 2
USA 3
Economic Implications 4
Recommendations 4
Physically disabled 4
Visually Impaired 6
Hearing Impaired 7
References 7
Introduction and Background
Not so many years ago, most disabled people were confined to the home looked after by an unmarried woman of the family. To be disabled was synonymous with being useless or incapable with no hope for improvement. The Spanish for disabled is "minusvalido" or "less valid". In Korea, Japan and China even now, disabled people are not to be seen in public. A disabled person brings disgrace to the Confucian family. Children are aborted, given up for adoption or kept in homes well away from the public gaze.
The poor spirit and self-confidence of most disabled people decreased the opportunities for them. Fortunately matters have improved. The full participation of the disabled in society is mutually beneficial. The disabled contribute and society obtains the benefit from their input. Society in general and business specifically benefits from trying to give them all the measures necessary and to make use of their work. Society also protects the disabled in their day-to-day life through the passing of laws. The full integration of the disabled in society should be in a most natural way. Just as racism and sexism is not tolerated, law prohibits discrimination against the disabled.
The hospitality industry area is one of the areas that should introduce changes and modifications not only in hotel facilities but also in their staff 's behaviour as well so as to make possible this integration. But catering for the disabled is not just about meeting laws. It is about seeking out and capturing an important slice of the market for hospitality services that is not adequately catered for.
Current practice and policies in Spain
Despite the above comments, in Spain, my country, more than 1,300 hotels classify themselves as being accessible to disabled people and they appear as such in different hotel guides published by official institutions and private companies. But an inspection of such hotels it could be said that in most of these hotels, the disabled-friendly classification is hardly justifiable. Many of the establishments had only placed in the hotel’s main entrance a ramp for wheelchair access, ignoring other important modifications such as the toilets, the lifts, the width of the doors, etc.
International perspective in the Hospitality Industry
United Kingdom
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Act DFEE, 1995 'The Disability Discrimination Act 1995' HMSO applies to all hotels, guesthouses, self-catering business, attractions, museums and tour operators. The Act makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities or services or in the management of premises.
For the tourism industry, this means that there will be no grounds for turning away the disabled unless one of the narrowly defined justifications in the Act applies.
A disabled person's right of access extends to three major services: service, information and premises.
From 2nd December 1996 tourism providers must not refuse service nor provide a lesser service to disabled people.
By the year 2000, it is probable that providers will have to change their policies so as to provide accessible information and appropriate auxiliary aids.
By the year 2005, providers are likely to have to remove physical barriers or to provide service by other means.
In spite of those long lead times, hospitality businesses should begin now to develop strategies which will enable them to remove barriers to mobility and to improve communication thorough planned programmes of improvements to premises and staff training. (Todd, Tomlinson, Backer, 1997)
New places of public accommodation and new commercial facilities should be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. This includes parking, public toilets, water fountains and access to the goods, services, programs, facilities and work areas.
Indeed all hotels, guesthouses and self-catering accommodation providers should instigate the necessary reforms and improvements to premises to attend disabled people. In new constructions, wheelchair accessible bedrooms with wheel-in showers and rooms for people with hearing disabilities should be available.
Furthermore, people working in tourism should also know to respond to the needs of a disabled customer. They should take into account the principle that all the customers are special and have varying needs. Such varying needs could include requiring a vegetarian meal, a fax-point in an accessible position, a nappy changing facility, a wheelchair accessible bathroom or shower, a no-smoking bedroom, a vibrating alarm pillow pad, a buffet selection within easy reach, a induction loop, a telephone with a inductive coupler or a meal for their guide-dog. A staff training programme is imperative.
The requirement on employment in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 only applies to businesses employing 20 or more people wherever they are employed. All other provisions apply to all tourism businesses whatever their size.
Williams, 1994 asserts that "Catering is slow off the mark in employing disabled people" John Deighan, personnel director at Swallow Hotels, "A change in the law will give employers an opportunity to review their current employment policies and help service the employment needs of the disabled. Hilton also employs workers with hearing difficulties in housekeeping. (Anne Jones, Human Resources director at Hilton National).
People with learning disabilities can be successfully employed in kitchen jobs and blind people and wheelchair users can work well in sedentary jobs such as telephonist posts, reception work or cashiers jobs.
Williams, 1994 also states that employing someone with a disability can be surprisingly inexpensive. In some instances, employers can get part funding for disabled employee's wages. Although some government grants are being squeezed, others are being simplified and are having more money invested in them. Ingamells W., Rouse S. and Worsfold P., 1991, however highlights the disabled's reluctance to be registered as such.
USA
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 impacts the lodging industry as few pieces of legislation have. The law regarding public accommodations went into effect on January 26, 1992.
The ADA is broken down into five separate parts or "titles" Of special interest to the lodging industry are Titles I and III:
Title I Employment
Title II Public Services
Title III Public Accommodations and Commercial Facilities
Title IV Telecommunications
Title I. Employment
Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities with regard to employment. The requirements became effective on:
- July 26, 1992 for employers with 25 or more employees
- July 26, 1994 for employers with 15-24 employees.
Title II.
This title requires that private businesses that are open to the public such as restaurants, department stores, hotels and motels allow individuals with disabilities to participate equally in the goods and services that they offer. This title also requires that all future construction of commercial facilities as well as places of public accommodation, be done so that the building being altered, and in some cases the path of travel to that altered portion, are accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Hoteliers should look at the ADA as an act that is bringing more people into their properties. As Salmen, 1992 states: "There are 49 million Americans who have some type of permanent disability..... that’s 20 percent of the population"
Economic Implications
Carrying out the necessary reforms could prove profitable by bringing in more business. We have to take in to account that the Europe-wide market for the tourism industry of 14 million people with disabilities and this visitors could produce business worth £22 billion a year in accommodation facilities and have a multiplier effect of travelling companions. The characteristics of the market include:
a) Older Group
b) Tendency to travel outside
c) Desire for quality
d) Loyalty
There is no doubt about the importance of this untapped market that should be an integral part of the Hospitality Company's current business plan. For example as an owner of a small hotel you could make two bedrooms accessible for a wheelchair, thereby attracting on average an additional 10 bed-nights per week from a wheelchair user accompanied by a companion. Those bed-nights could bring in an average of £50 in "room/restaurant spend. Over a year this could mean £50,000 of additional business. Robert Peel Chief Executive of Mount Charlotte Thistle Hotels said: "Our biggest conference worth £350,000 came to us because we were accessible".
Actually, disabled people complain very often about the hotel facilities because not many of them can offer the minimal facilities considered as being comfortable.
Recommendations
Physically disabled
Many of these recommendations have been obtained from Karp 1997.
Have a level surface at the door.
A wheelchair is difficult to manage whilst opening a door.
Lay carpeting that is not too difficult to wheel on.
Plush carpeting adds to the feel of luxury but it is difficult to wheel over easily and in straight lines.
Have a lower counter at the registration desk - or abolish it.
It is not comfortable to have to crane one's neck to see hotel staff over a tall, deep registration counter, designed, of course, for people who stand. Some people sit particularly low in their wheelchair, and probably can't see over the top at all. There's that cultural thing too about superiority/inferiority when one person is tall and one short. Having a clipboard for signing the registration form is also a good idea.
I found that the Shangri-La Hotel in Phuket's Laguna Beach welcomes its guests and seats them down in armchairs. Serving all arriving customers seated rather than standing is most welcoming for all customers who have probably had a stressful journey.
Don't give out accessible rooms to non-disabled guests until last.
If disabled-friendly rooms are available avoid giving them out to those that do not need them.
Put the parking nearest to the most convenient door and the front desk.
Placing the reserved disabled parking to the side of the building usually means having to wheel a long distance.
Time the elevator doors so they don't close before I get there - or as I'm going in.
Too often, elevator doors are timed poorly even for people who walk, much less a chair rider who needs an extra moment or two to get there. The BBC TV programme "Hotel" vividly showed an elderly but able-bodied guest being injured when the lift door shut.
Make sure the elevator stops level with the floor.
It only takes a slight difference in elevation for a wheelchair rider to land on their face.
Ensure level floors.
Some users prefer not to have brakes on their wheelchairs, in which case a less than level floor is a real inconvenience.
Make sure doors swing easily and more than ninety degrees.
A door that doesn't open more than ninety degrees makes it very hard to wheel straight through the door while it is held open, and can slap the rear wheel before it passes through.
Leave plenty of room on both sides of the bed, or between beds.
To reach bedside tables the lights on them, and often the telephone. The disabled tend to get into bed from the side, not the foot.
Give me plenty of room to navigate in the entire room.
Hotels need to leave more than enough space to just fit in the bed(s) and furniture.
Be willing to rearrange a room or remove furniture.
The disabled bring their own chair.
Your beds are dangerously firm for disabled guests.
It is very dangerous for the disabled to sleep on a firm bed. If the hotel has wood boards under the mattress in the handicap rooms, ask if the guest would like it removed.
Telephones need to be within reach.
Best answer: supply a cordless phone that the guest can keep anywhere in the room. Theft problems can be overcome by registration.
Put real hangers in accessible rooms.
Theft prevention hangers are inconvenient for everyone, but they are virtually unusable by many disabled travellers, especially those with limited grip strength.
Have lots of light switches.
Easy to operate lever switches, low and close to the bed would help and multiple switch locations for the same lights helps keep electricity bills down.
Make real shower chairs available.
Most hotels will supply a very small shower chair resembling a milking stool. A decent sized chair would help avoid accidents.
Hand-held showerheads are a necessity.
A long hosed hand held shower is essential to the immobile.
Use lever controls on the sink and bathtub.
Many of the disabled have limited grip strength. Lots of sinks have taps that are notoriously stiff and require strong hands.
Leave plenty of space under the sink.
A wheel-chair user needs to be able get his or her legs under the bathroom sink. The upper body weight is supported by the arms whilst washing. Sitting farther away makes it a lot harder.
Train housekeeping staff.
The hand-held showerhead must be left hanging; furniture must not be repositioned and hallways must be kept clear to allow movement
Include exercise equipment can be used.
At least a set of free weights. Stairmasters, bicycles and treadmill machines are of absolutely no use to wheelchair users.
Visually Impaired
Many of these recommendations have been obtained from Sylvia Howard of The Royal National Institute for the Blind in a letter dated 24 Nov. 97 and from RNIB, 1997.
Information
Customer information and menus should be available in a suitable format either in Braille or on audiotape. Many of the "blind" have some seeing ability.
introduction
Say who you are and what your function is when speaking to a blind person.
Guide
Know how to guide a blind person
Say you are leaving
Don't leave a blind person alone talking to mid air if you are leaving.
Be descriptive
Be clear in terms of directions. Don't say "over there."
Be patient
Older visually impaired people may also be hard of hearing and slow generally.
Dogs
Don't feed dogs without permission.
Colour
Ensure colour contrasts of food on plates and furniture in rooms.
Be natural
Blind people also say, "it's nice to see you". Don't be condescending.
Hearing Impaired
Many of these recommendations have been obtained from Salmen, 1992
Television
Is teletext or a sound decoder available?
Telephone
Is a text telephone available?
Desk space
Is there sufficient space available for a notebook computer? Are there spare electricity and telephone sockets? Many of the deaf use e-mail rather than the telephone.
Alarms
Ensure that visual emergency warning devices are provided.
Visual notification
Ensure that visual notification is available for telephone ringing and for door knocking.
References
DFEE, 1995 'The Disability Discrimination Act 1995' HMSO
Ingamells W., Rouse S. and Worsfold P., 1991 'Employment of the disabled in the hotel and catering industry'
Karp, Gary 1997 "Life on Wheels" O'Reilly & Associates, San Francisco
RNIB 1997 "Top ten tips for hotel staff to assist visually impaired people" RNIB UK
Salmen, John 1992 'Accommodating All Guests' American Hotel and Motel Association
Todd, Tomlinson, Backer, 1997 'Providing Service for all: the training guide' Scottish Tourist Board, Edinburgh
Williams, Mary 1994. 'Disability at Work' Caterer & Hotelkeeper 12 May 1994
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Sheffield Hallam University: MSc: Hospitality Assignments