ANGLING TIMES EXPERT CHALLENGED BY BDAA

The British Disabled Angling Association has severely criticised reported claims of a ‘Health and Safety expert’ in an Angling Times article* as being misleading and damaging to the future of angling.  The ‘expert’ was reported as saying that services can be legally withdrawn from disabled people if proven that the facility is unsafe after a risk assessment.

BDAA, the leading disability angling charity, consulted The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Equality and Human Rights Commission (Commission) concerning the claims, who both agreed that the claims were misleading and unproductive in helping to remove discrimination of disabled people in angling.
 
BDAA received confirmation from the Commission that Service providers including fisheries and some angling clubs have a clear duty under Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to ensure they do not treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason that relates to the person’s disability, and where necessary they should be making reasonable adjustments to;
a)    policies, practices and procedures
b)    auxiliary aids and services
c)    physical features of premises

The Commission confirmed:

“It is true that the Act does not require a service provider to do anything which would endanger the health or safety of “any person”, and a service provider can justify less favourable treatment or a failure to make an adjustment if it is necessary in order not to endanger the health or safety of “any person”. The Act goes on to make the valid point; any risk assessment should take full account of a disabled person’s circumstances when a service provider is seeking to rely on such an assessment. There also must be a balance between protecting against the risk, and restricting disabled people from using the service.”

Importantly concerning the claims in the Angling Times:

“The Act also states clearly that before a service provider relies on health or safety to justify less favourable treatment of a disabled person, it should consider whether a reasonable adjustment could be made which would allow the disabled person to access the service without concerns for health or safety. Similarly, if health or safety is used to justify a failure to make a particular reasonable adjustment, the service provider should consider whether there is any alternative adjustment that could be made to allow the disabled person to use the service.”

The Commission made the point that:

“The duty is anticipatory, so fisheries should be thinking in advance of how they can ensure their service is accessible.”

BDAA approached RoSPA for their expertise in the field of safety on the claims made in the article under health and safety policies. Sam Neal, Leisure Safety Information Office said
“A risk assessment is a fundamental part of any water safety management system and we strongly recommend these are carried out. However, this process should not be solely used to reinforce the need not to cater for disabled people. Using a risk assessment as such a case is counterproductive to the DDA which has been developed to increase access and not stipulate safety requirements. The assessment will allow site operators to identify what approach is best to take and we fully understand that not all locations will be suitable.
“In context of the phrase ‘reasonable’ some fisheries may not have the resources to develop certain facilities and at other locations risk assessments may indicate that certain areas are deemed too hazardous to accommodate disabled people.”

“The argument here is not about prosecution and liability but social and moral attitudes to ensure everybody can enjoy an activity that is very popular in the UK.”
BDAA advises all fisheries and clubs look at what, and how they currently provide their services, how they can make angling a safer and more accessible environment to disabled people; the sport should look to the promotion of equality for all areas of society, or face damaging the public image of the sport. 
Terry Moseley, President of the BDAA commented:

“The historic presumption by fisheries and clubs that they are exempt from the DDA as they are not service providers similar to shops or businesses that operated ‘indoors’ is wrong. The Commission has made it clear to the BDAA that it is irrelevant whether a service is provided indoors or outdoors, they all fall under the category of a service provider and therefore not exempt from the powers of the DDA.”

The BDAA is offering proposals to representatives from the Environment Agency, RoSPA, angling governing and development bodies, Disability Sport and equality organisations to work towards an ‘access plan’ for angling.

*The article was published in the 19th January 2010 issue of Angling Times.