INTENT
Kids Care Oncology Central West Ontario o/a Ronald McDonald House Charities® South Central Ontario (“RMHC®SCO”) is firmly committed to making every effort to ensure that our policies, practices, and procedures adhere to the guiding principles in the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation under the Accessibilities for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.
All goods and services provided by RMHC®SCO will follow the principles of dignity, independence, integration, and equal opportunity.
The delivery of goods and services to persons with disabilities will be accommodated wherever possible. RMHC®SCO will ensure that persons with disabilities will benefit from the same services as others.
SCOPE
This policy applies to all RMHC®SCO Board members, employees and volunteers who deal with the public and families requiring our goods and services or other third parties.
Definitions
Assistive device: A technical aid, communication device, or other instrument that is used to maintain or improve the functional abilities of people with disabilities. Personal assistive devices are devices that persons bring with them, such as a wheelchair, walker, or a personal oxygen tank, and that might assist in hearing, seeing, communicating, moving, breathing, remembering, or reading.
Disability: As defined by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, and the Ontario Human Rights Code, refers to:
Guide dog: A highly trained working dog that has been trained at one of the facilities listed in Ontario Regulation 58 under the Blind Persons’ Rights Act, to provide mobility, safety, and increased independence for people who are blind.
Service animal: A service animal for a person with a disability if:
Support person: In relation to a person with a disability, another person who accompanies them in order to help with communication, mobility, personal care, medical needs, or access to goods and services.
GUIDELINES
The Provision of Goods and Services to Persons with Disabilities
RMHC®SCO will make every reasonable effort to ensure that its policies, practices, and procedures are consistent with the principles of dignity, independence, integration, and equal opportunity by:
The Use of Assistive Devices
Customer’s Own Assistive Devices
Persons with disabilities may use their own assistive devices as required when accessing goods or services provided by RMHC®SCO.
In cases where the assistive device presents a health and safety concern or where accessibility might be an issue, other reasonable measures will be used to ensure the access of goods and services, up to the point of undue hardship.
For example, open flames and oxygen tanks cannot be near one another. Therefore, the accommodation of an individual with an oxygen tank might involve ensuring the individual is in a location that would be considered safe for both the individual and the House.
Guide Dogs and Service Animals
A person with a disability who is accompanied by a guide dog or service animal will be allowed access to premises that are open to the public unless otherwise excluded by law. “No pet” policies do not apply to guide dogs or service animals.
Staff may respectfully ask if an animal is a service animal and will not ask the nature of the person’s disability or purpose of the animal.
Food Service Areas
A person with a disability who is accompanied by guide dog or service animal will be allowed access to food service areas.
Recognizing a Guide Dog or Service Animal:
If it is not readily apparent that the animal is being used by the person for reasons relating to their disability, RMHC®SCO may request verification from the person.
Care and Control of the Animal:
The guest who is accompanied by a guide dog or service animal is responsible for maintaining care and control of the animal at all times.
Allergies and Other Health and Safety Concerns
If a health and safety concern presents itself, for example, in the form of a severe allergy to the animal, RMHC®SCO will make all reasonable efforts to meet the needs of all individuals. Pursuant to RMHC®SCO’s obligations under the Human Rights Code and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, each person’s accommodation needs will be considered on a case-by-case basis, up to the point of undue hardship.
Due diligence needs to be paid to address health and safety requirements. For example, if a person’s health and safety could be seriously affected by the presence of a service animal on the premises open to the public, management must fully analyze all options for safely accommodating the service animal. Options could include creating distance between the two individuals to eliminate in-person contact, changing the time the two individuals receive service, or using air purifiers and other measures that could allow the person to use their service animal on the premises.
In very exceptional circumstances where a service animal becomes out of control, causing a clear disruption or a threat to the health and safety of others, and the animal’s behavior is not corrected by the owner, a person with a disability can be asked to remove their service animal from the premises.
As a courtesy, particularly if the person and service animal have been in attendance on the premises for a long time, staff may ask whether the animal requires water, may designate an area in which the service animal can relieve itself, or ask whether the staff can be of assistance pertaining to the service animal.
The Use of Support Persons
If a person with a disability is accompanied by a support person, RMHC®SCO will ensure that both persons may enter the premises together and that the person with a disability is not prevented from having access to the support person.
In situations where confidential information might be discussed, consent will be obtained from the guest before any potentially confidential information is mentioned.
Accommodation Fees
Where a support person is required to accompany a person with a disability, and where the person with a disability has agreed to the accompaniment, RMHC®SCO will not charge the support person any additional accommodation fees provided the accommodation is for one guest suite.
Notice of Disruptions in Service
Service disruptions may occur for reasons that may or may not be within the control or knowledge of RMHC®SCO. In the event of any temporary disruptions to facilities or services that persons with disabilities rely on to access or use goods or services, reasonable efforts will be made to provide advance notice. In some circumstances, such as in the situation of unplanned temporary disruptions, advance notice may not be possible.
If a notification needs to be posted, the following information will be included unless it is not readily available or known:
When disruptions occur, RMHC®SCO will provide notice by:
Guest Feedback
RMHC®SCO shall provide all individuals with the opportunity to provide feedback on the service provided to persons with disabilities. Information about the feedback process will be readily available to all persons and notice of the process will be made available by Family Services staff during check-in.
Submitting Feedback
Guests can submit feedback to:
Training
Training will be provided to:
Training Provisions
Regardless of the format, training will cover the following:
Training Schedule
Training will be provided to new employees, volunteers, and contractors during onboarding. Revised training will be provided in the event of changes to legislation, procedures, policies, or practices.
Administration
If you have any questions or concerns about this policy or its related procedures, please contact:
Amanda Harrison, Senior Manager, Human Resources
905-521-9983, extension 2122
1510 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 1E3
aharrison@rmhcsco.ca
This policy and its related procedures will be reviewed as required in the event of legislative changes or changes to company procedures.
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