FEATURED ARTICLE
Inclusive office work stations: because having accessible buildings is only part of the puzzle by Rachel Whymark (Positive Access and Sustainable Solutions (PASS) Building Consultants)
Rachel’s passion and advocacy for a more accessible (and sustainable) building environment began as a trainee building certifier in the UK 33 years ago. Specialising in interpretation of legislation, particularly of Part M (Access to and use of buildings), Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) and Part B (Fire safety) of the UK building regulations. She went on to be part of the specialist building control team at the National House Building Council, judged the RIBA housing design awards, and worked as a project manager for the Movement for Innovation’s Housing Forum. Arriving in far North Queensland 16 years ago, her attention turned to working for builders and developers and enabling the construction of many award winning homes in far North Queensland with an emphasis on sustainability and accessibility.
E
nsuring that a building is compliant to meet legislative requirements is one thing, but having truly inclusive work places is an entirely different animal, and just as important. Of course there are the social contexts of the organisation, which will to a greater or lesser degree determine how far they are willing to go in terms of providing comfortable and useable working environments for as many people as possible. But this aside, there is an incredible array of furniture and accessories that can support a very wide range of people to enable office work spaces in particular to be extremely versatile, and in doing so, provide a fundamentally important part of the puzzle that completes an inclusive workplace. Without consideration of how individuals will be needing to carry out their work in their personal workspace, opportunities to support staff with disabilities may be missed. Meaning that not only individuals miss out, but so does the company employing them.
In 2018, Rachel decided to become an access consultant aiming for Accredited membership of the ACAA, undertaking her Diploma in Access Consulting. She has also completed the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) assessor course, and Liveable Housing Australia (LHA) course. Rachel is based in Cairns and works as an access and sustainability consultant for projects all over Australia.
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THE MAGAZINE FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF CONSULTANTS IN ACCESS AUSTRALIA
