SSL Access disability lifts for students

A SSL Scotland and SSL Access product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Feb 10, 2009

SSL Access complete a successful fourth quarter in the education sector helping children with disabilities at two Scottish schools get to class more easily.

At St Margaret's High School in North Lanarkshire, SSL Access supplied and fitted four incline platform lifts during the October week break, to ensure students with disabilities could get their way around the school a lot more easily when they returned from holiday.

Installed at a cost of GBP30 000 the lifts will make life simpler and safer for students with disabilities and ensure they can get around the building just as quickly as their classmates.

Marc Barry, director at SSL Access, commented: "One of the biggest challenges that students with disabilities face is actually being able to get to lessons".

"By installing these lifts, we have done away with all of the problems created by these four flights of stairs".

Bob Murdoch, senior maintenance and improvement officer for North Lanarkshire Council, commented: "We were bringing the school up to standard with the Disability Discrimination Act as previously there had been no access between floors or down to the sports complex".

Mr Murdoch said this was part of an ongoing programme to bring schools throughout the district up to scratch.

In West Lothian, SSL Access also supplied and fitted six chairlifts during the October week holidays as part of refurbishment work being carried out by facilities management company FES at Whitburn Academy.

Mr Barry said he hoped the current economic climate would not force councils to reign in their budgets to such an extent that rolling programmes of improvement were stopped at schools across the country.

He concluded: "Moving between classes is a real problem for many students with disabilities and fitting lifts can be done quickly and with very little disruption".

"Hopefully councils will continue to make funds available to carry out this kind of work and help all students enjoy the same type of learning experience.