Safe access for people ... but not forgetting the vehicles

What were the issues?

A disabled customer was having difficult in accessing a petrol station shop because of the height of the kerbs around the front entrance and because there was a step up into the shop.  The petrol station manager invited Virosafe to conduct an Accessibility Survey to identify the most appropriate solution.

Our solution:

There wasn’t much space between the door to the forecourt and the petrol pumps. This meant that it wasn’t possible to install the 2 ramps that would be necessary to cope with the kerb and the step into the shop.  There was no realistic way of going around the shop and into the rear entrance as the path was too narrow.  In addition, the manager didn’t want any concrete on the site.  Our solution was to put in a dual purpose tarmac ramp.  The ramp was designed to enable disabled access to the shop whilst also allowing vehicles to drive over it.  We even managed to colour the tarmac to match with the original block paving!  We found that the doors were very heavy so we also installed push button operated door opening system to aid access into and out of the store.  We undertook the whole job overnight on a Sunday when the petrol station was normally closed, avoiding any further closure and loss of revenue.

The outcome …

The Manager was delighted with the flexibility we demonstrated by working overnight on a Sunday.  The solution was hailed as a huge success and both staff and customers commented on the ease of access as well as the way in which the ramp blended with its surroundings.

The images below show before (on the left) we undertook the remedial work and after (on the right) we had completed the improvements.