Corkers Restaurant,
Café Bar & Guest Rooms

1 High Street : The Quay : Poole : Dorset : BH15 1AB

Disabled Access to Services Policy Statement

It is the stated purpose of Corkers Restaurant, Café Bar and Guest Rooms  to provide services to the public regardless of disability and to make reasonable adjustments to the physical environment of their premises to ensure that disabled people can access their goods, services and facilities.

It is also our intention when dealing with colleagues, clients or outside contractors, that reasonable adjustments may also be required.

We believe that it is not only unlawful but unjust to discriminate against disabled people by:

• refusing to provide a service without justification;
• providing a service to a lesser standard without justification;
• providing a service on worse terms without justification;
• failing to make “reasonable” adjustments to the way services are provided for disabled people.
• failing to make “reasonable” adjustments to the physical features of service premises, to overcome physical barriers to access.

To avoid difficulties in customer relationships that can arise for many different reasons. Sometimes the cause of discrimination can be prejudice, but it is more likely to be ignorance or misunderstanding. All our staff our instructed in customer relations and specifically the correct procedures for assisting people with disabilities.

The Management of Corkers have gone to great lengths to ensure wheelchair users can access the Café Bar area and have access to a suitable dedicated toilet. It is vitally important that easy access is available to this at all times and the area is not cluttered by chairs or stock waiting to be put away.

It is not possible due to the configuration of the building to install lifts to the 1st Floor Restaurant and the 2nd Floor Guest Rooms. To partially compensate for this we offer patrons that are unable to negotiate the stairs to the Restaurant the same menu on the Ground Floor. With regards the Guest Rooms it is not suitable for wheel chair users and this is made clear in our advertising and information.

SPECIFIC TYPES OF ADJUSTMENTS MADE:

We have provided instruction and  training for staff who may come into contact with customers with disabilities, to assist them in the provision of services to and for people with different types of disabilities;

We have made alterations to the premises such as improving access routes, ensuring they are clearly signed and that access routes, ensuring they are clearly signed and that they are free of clutter.

The most important measure is to exercise good customer care. If staff see anyone that needs assistance, they are required to volunteer it.

Staff are instructed to talk to disabled people about the service we provide and what might be able to do to help.

Also to treat disabled customers exactly like any other customers.

We treat disabled people as individuals just like everyone else.

We do not make assumptions about their abilities or needs.

We are aware that some disabilities are hidden, for example epilepsy and mental illness.

We instruct staff not to ask personal questions about a person’s disability, such as ‘Were you born like that?’ But you could ask ‘Does your disability affect your ability to use our service?'

If someone looks ‘different’, we concentrate on what they are saying, not on the way they look.

If we are talking to an adult, we treat them like an adult.
We offer assistance if someone looks as if they need it, but wait for them to accept before we help.

We always talk to the disabled person directly if they are with someone, not to the person with them. This also applies to a deaf person accompanied by a sign language interpreter.

When talking to a deaf person, we try establish whether they lip-read, in writing, if necessary. If they do, we make sure our face is in the light, look directly at the person, speak clearly and naturally, remembering to keep our hands away from our face.

We introduce ourselves when we first meet a blind person. When we are going to move away, we tell them. Don’t leave them talking to an empty space.
When guiding a blind person, we do not push or pull them. We ask if they would like to take hold of your arm.
If there are steps, we tell them whether the steps go up or down.

We are aware that guide dogs for blind people, hearing dogs for deaf people and other assistance dogs are working animals, not pets. They should not be fed, patted or distracted when they are working.

When we are talking to someone with a speech impediment, we concentrate on what is being said, we endeavour to be patient and not try to guess what they want to say.

If we don’t understand, we don’t pretend to.
We try to be  patient. If someone has difficulty understanding - perhaps because they have a learning disability – we are prepared to explain something more than once, we concentrate on using plain language.

First Prepared 08/07/2008 for
Corkers Restaurant, Café Bar & Guest Rooms
By P J Constandinos NEBOSH : ACIEH
Revised 15/06/2009

P J Constandinos,

ACCESS INFORMATION FOR GUESTS WITH MOBILITY DIFFICULTIES.

Access to the 1st Floor restaurant and to the 2nd Floor Guest Rooms is via stairs only.  Regrettably, our stairs unsuitable for wheelchair users. However, we are happy to offer our full Restaurant menu in the ground floor Café Bar for those guests unable to use the stairs.

Access to the Café Bar is by main double doors with a pavement riser step of 20 cm and a maximum door width of 1.4 metres. or via the ramp to the double Restaurant doors and onward to the Café Bar via a secondary door, 85 cm width.

Access to Restaurant is via stairs with a 1.05 metre width and risers of 20 cm. Handrails are provided to both sides.

Access to the 2nd Floor Guest rooms is via 75cm width door with a 20cm step up.
First flight of stairs are 1 metre width with 20cm risers, second flight stairs are 80 cm width with 20 cm risers. Minimum door width throughout the Guest Accomodation is 70cm.