A radio show item about the misery thousands of disabled people face if they need a WC away from home has inspired Ullapool Harbour Trust to prove that where there’s a will, there’s a way to improve accessibility.
As a result, disabled people in the local community and visitors can head to the port, knowing it has appropriate toilets: a Changing Places assisted accessible facility, designed to the highest level set out in British Standards(*) has been installed.
Explained Chief Executive/Harbour Master Kevin Peach, “I listened with heavy heart to a radio show highlighting the daily misery that parents and carers have to face trying to find suitable toilets. We had to do what we could to improve the lot of people with profound disabilities. We wanted the best and highest specification we could provide for these very special people- hence why we chose to install a Closomat Palma Vita instead of the basic, conventional WC usually provided.”
The free-to-use Changing Places toilet facility features more space than a conventional wheelchair-accessible convenience, plus additional fixtures of an overhead track hoist, adult-sized height adjustable changing bench, privacy screen and a Closomat Palma Vita wash & dry (smart) toilet, all supplied via Able Care and installed by W Munro.
The Changing Places is located, alongside a community workshop, in the ground floor of a Highland Council-owned building in the heart of the Harbour. Ullapool Harbour Trust approached the Council and arranged to rent the building so it could provide the Changing Places, assisted by funding from an accessibility grant from Transport Scotland.
Under British Standards (BS8300:2018), a Changing Places toilet in addition to conventional accessible facilities should be provided in buildings where the public spend time. As a minimum, the facility should be 3m x 4m (12m2), and include a peninsular WC, adult sized height adjustable changing bench, full room cover overhead track hoist, and wash basin (preferably height adjustable); the Standard notes inclusion of a wash & dry (shower/smart) toilet in place of a conventional WC further enhances users’ dignity &. Independence.
The Government has just completed consultation on making Changing Places an obligatory requirement in new buildings or major refurbishments.
Closomat has become the leader in the design, supply, installation and subsequent maintenance of Changing Places; its website www.closomat.co.uk is now the go to’ location for support information for all involved in the specification and build process, with NBS specifications, CAD blocks, white papers and guidance notes all available for free download. Closomat is also the only provider of Changing Places that has the capability, in-house, to project manage (to CDM standards) the installation, and to subsequently provide service & maintenance of the equipment it has supplied therein.