Eastern Arc wins funding to audit accessibility in its labs

Around 1 in 5 working people in the UK have disabilities, but in the research and innovation sector this drops to 1 in 25, or 4% of the workforce.

As a result the needs of those with disability are not always taken into account. This is particularly so in laboratory environments, where people with disabilities have been regarded as a safety hazard.

Modern design and protocols can make labs fully accessible, safe, and comfortable for disabled people. However, poor attitudes and low knowledge about how to make labs accessible can hinder progress.

Eastern Arc has won funding to address this. The project, ‘Disability Access in Laboratory Environments’, has received a grant of £73k (fEC) from the EDI Caucus Flexible Fund, which is backed by UKRI and the British Academy.

Led Dr Katherine Deane (UEA), with co-investigators Prof Joanna Semlyen, Brendan Burrill (UEA) and Em Diserens (Lightyear Foundation),the project will work over the next six months to look at labs across the Eastern Arc universities (UEA, Essex, Kent and Sussex) and assess how accessible laboratories are for those with disabilities.

The project will look at a range of labs, including two highly-accessible facilites at UEA, and will gain some feedback on what aspects of disability access recommendations do or do not work in practice.

The work includes a range of other partners, including The Royal Society, The Royal Society of Chemistry, The Institute of Biomedical Sciences, The Wellcome Trust, Catapult Cell and Gene Therapy, the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN), and the EDI Sharing Hub funded by EPSRC.

‘The result will be a much better understanding of the current situation, and the opportunity to improve access for those with disabilities to lab environments,’ said project lead Katherine Deane. ‘They will provide the basis and a framework for making our research infrastructure more accessible, open and welcoming to all, regardless of their disabilities, and thereby ensure that all can play an active part in pushing forward the boundaries of knowledge.’

To find out more about the project, and others funded as part of the current funding round, click on the EDICa website.