Panel: Workplace Preparedness for Employees with Disabilities

Panel: Workplace Preparedness for Employees with

DisabilitiesKevin Curtin, Director USDA TARGET

CenterPatrick Cokley, Office of Disability

Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor

Moderated by Bruce McFarlane

What is Disability?• In an emergency situation, disability

may be defined as any person that would need additional assistance in evacuating a building

Planning Processes• Widest possible identification• Take into account all categories of

functional limitations• What are you planning for?• Think about all phases of emergency:

– Planning– Event– Recovery

The Plan for my Agency/Office

• Developing a plan• How have people with disabilities

been involved in the process?• Have people been invited to self

identify– Are they in the room– Do we need to plan for “them?”

Planning Process

• Include but don’t limit your planning to those who have come forward

• Conceive how different parts of plan impact people with different functional limitations:– Motor, Dexterity, Vision, Hearing, Cognitive

• Think about people who may acquire a disability during an incident

What is the Plan?• My agency/office• The Plan for myself• The plan of the building

as a whole

The Plan for my Agency/Office

• How do New Hires and Contractors learn the plan?

• The Emergency plan as part of the hiring and orientation process

The Plan for Me• What do I need to be able to

evacuate the building during an emergency?

• Do I know what the plan is for everyone else?

• If an emergency happens, will I be able to receive the instructions on what to do?

The Plan for Me• Practice on your own• Practice during drills• Alternative routes of egress

Communications• Fire Alarm (auditory/visual)• Public Address (PA) System • Computer Emergency Notification System (CENS)• Email• Text Messaging • Paging System• Radio Network• IPTV• Electronic Information Displays• Warden Phone System• Emergency Information Website• Employee Information Line

Evacuation Devices• Transportation Chair

Evacuation Devices• Evacuation Chair

Evacuation Devices• Evacuation Chair

Evacuation Devices• Wheelchair

Evacuation Chairs in Action

Evacuation• Elevators

– Who can use them?– What is the process?

Evacuation• Stairwells

– Lighting– Signage– Evacuation

Chairs

Questions?

Panel: Workplace Preparedness for Employees with

DisabilitiesKevin Curtin, Director USDA TARGET

CenterPatrick Cokley, Office of Disability

Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor

Moderated by Bruce McFarlane