‘That’s pushing it’ – Social aspects of Sustainability
This weekend I spent a night in Shanghai. In fact, I am writing this post on the coach on my way back to Ningbo. We are all aware of what is called ‘the triple bottom line’: Sustainability is not just about being green and environmentally friendly, it should consider social and economic factors as well. Now, in Shanghai, I saw the sign below. It was arranged in front of the entrance stairs to a major Chinese bank. Although the social aspects of sustainability are subjective, sometimes controversial, and certainly hard to measure and normalise, I think offering good access for disabled people is definitely one of the social aspects companies should (have to) consider.
Anyway, the sign might make you smile (at first…):
In all fairness, if you look carefully you might find a doorbell button below the sign. We were still wondering how the service would then be arranged: Would a clerk come and offer the desired service outside the bank or would someone lift the wheelchair up the stairs? I am not sure whether this is a sufficient solution (however, one could argue this is better than nothing – though a major Chinese bank should be able (and be required to) to do better.
Shame that you didn’t trust yourselves to press the button and see what happens! Though presumably your second suggestion is the right one.
However, just a word of caution on the legislation front: even when this is in place, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it will be logical or reasonable. A relative’s business in the UK was investigated under some terms of some act (I’m afraid I don’t speak legalese) and told it was in breach of equal opportunities legislation for issues such as not having wheelchair access at the front of the building. Being a nursing home, the premises were of course equipped with a ramp and so forth, albeit to the rear of the building, which was apparently unsuitable for employees. Their arguments, that hiring someone in a wheelchair to help another person in a wheelchair to take a bath was farcical, fell on deaf ears. Ultimately they had to close the small, family-run nursing home, on the grounds of being unable to afford to renovate and modify the old building in order to comply with the pretty unnecessary demands of the legislation.