Quote:
Originally Posted by Murray  |
You've highlighted a very small part of the DDA relating to physical barriers and the physical accessibility of services.
* Since 2 December 1996 it has been unlawful for sports clubs to treat disabled people less favourably for a reason related to their disability;
*
Since 1 October 1999 sports clubs have had to make "reasonable adjustments" for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services; and
* From 1 October 2004 sports clubs may have to make other "reasonable adjustments" in relation to the physical features of their premises to overcome physical barriers to access.
There is a duty of care to clubs under the 1999 part of the DDA to provide reasonable adjustment to people with disabilities to give them equality of use of the clubs services.
The duty of care to make reasonable adjustment is the clubs, not the disabled individuals. Thus the club or tournament host is responsible for finding a way of scoring / pulling a disabled persons arrow, not the disabled person themselves. Assuming of course that their disability hampers them in that way. If it doesn't they can pull their own arrows!
To demand that a disabled person should bring / find own helper is to put extra restrictions on their ability to access the services that don't apply to non disabled people. It removes their equality of access, which is unlawful.
Yes, that does put an extra burden on clubs and tournament organisers but that is the law. In all reality clubs should have an equality document outlining how they deal with such things and I believe the
GNAS is working on such a document for the sport as a whole.
The only real sticking point is the definition of 'reasonable adjustment'. Is it reasonable for a club/tournament to have some kind of mechanism for scoring / removing the arrows of someone who can't walk to and from the target? Yes, I think so!
This doesn't however have any bearing on people who shoot 60lb compounds then moan that they might hurt themselves removing their own arrows, or people who plain can't be bothered. That's a separate issue.
I hope this clears up some confusion.