Mental and physical disability support

The University of Exeter is committed to supporting current and future staff, with mental or physical disabilities or impairments, to work successfully. This is in line with our commitment to equality and diversity, our equal opportunities policy, and the legislation.

The University of Exeter has an Occupational Health Department who can provide support, guidance and signposting for staff and managers.

The pages here in the Working with a Disability section contain information and guidance on the following:

Please also note, the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion pages contain information on issues relating to disability initiatives at the University of Exeter.

The Colleague Wellbeing pages draw together all University health and wellbeing activities, courses and information for staff and is managed by the Wellbeing Group as part of the Positive Working Environment work stream.

What can the Occupational Health Team help me with?

Specific advice on equipment to promote function and wellbeing at work
Advice to employees and managers on adaptations to the workplace in line with statutory requirements
Information on how to maintain function and independence
Information and links to wider community disability resources
Referral to specialist services
Information on Access to Work
Lifestyle advice and guidance – at work and at home
Signpost to appropriate statutory and voluntary sector organisations

Please see the guidance available on the University website around setting up a home workstation as you must complete a DSE working from home assessment

How can I get in touch with the Occupational Health Team?

An employee can make contact directly to discuss any issues but, for ongoing support, this will need to be supported by a management referral. The employee’s line manager and HR Advisors can make a referral to the Occupational Health Service. For full details of this process, please see here or email: occupationalhealth@exeter.ac.uk

Occupational Health will contact the employee to arrange an appointment, carry out an assessment and will provide an advisory report with recommendations to the line manager and HR Advisor/Partner.

Getting IT support for accessibility issues - SID desk enquiries

The University SID desk is the first point of contact for information including information about IT equipment and software (please note, however, there is no specialist accessibility or disability support).

Non- Urgent enquiries - If you have an accessibility issue and require support, please raise an enquiry via the online helpdesk. There is now a tick box in the online form which will ask “does this relate to an accessibility issue for you’. This will identify your query as possibly needing some additional input. However it may not mean that your query is dealt with any faster.

Urgent queries- for business-critical queries that impact on your ability to work, you should contact SID by phone on 01392 72 5050.

If you are having other difficulties with the reasonable adjustment and/or equipment, please talk to your line manager.

Useful links

AccessAble (formerly Disabled Go) - Provides information for students, staff and visitors who have a disability with detailed information of the University facilities. This includes the location of blue badge parking bays and detailed access information including photographs of the rooms and facilities in each building.

Access to Work - An Access to Work grant can pay for practical support for individuals with a long term disability, health or mental health condition to enable them to start work or stay in work. Employee must make application.

DSE Policy - This Standard sets out the responsibilities for implementing the requirements of the Display Screen Equipment Regulations (1992). The Standard explains the steps that should be taken by managers and their staff to ensure that all DSE Users have been identified, have been assessed and risks in the workstation controlled.