[Billcat]

Somehow, the discussion got off topic. A-B was expressing concerns that the government was requiring handicapped loos. I pointed out that leaving the resolution of this problem to "responsible adults" had resulted in not resolving the problem (just as leaving other social ills, such a reducing pollution, improving workplace safety, were not resolved by the same "responsible adults," but required governmant action.

I'll ask again - what in the world is preventing A-B's able-bodied employees from using the handicapped loo? Is there some regulation in the UK saying that these folks cannot?

BTW, A-B, there has been quite a lot of discrimination against the handicapped in terms of hiring over the years, even for employment where they can do the complete job.
Laws requiring handicapped accessiblity (including loos) have allowed many folks to lead useful, fulfilling lives and, at the same time, reducing the burden of supporting these folks to the taxpayers.

If your baking business continues to prosper, it could grow to the point where you might have salespeople, receptionists, secretaries or accounting employees. All of these jobs can be done by folks with some form of handicap, in which case you might well need that handicapped loo. Also, I expect that, as a facility producing food products, you are subject to periodic inspections. - and there's no reason why that inspector (or anyone else paying a visit to your facility) might not be in a wheelchair.


Of course, there will also be businessmen in almost any country who complain about the cost, just in the USA many of those "responsible adults" complained about requirements to reduce pollution, make safer products, make the workplace safer, eliminate possible carcinogens, eliminate child labor, equal opportunity for women/blacks/Irish/Jews/Catholics etc.

Would it be a good thing if those "responsible adults" took care of handicapped accessibiltiy on their own? Would it have been a good thing if those same people had prevented pollution, sold only safe products, had never cut corners to pocket a larger profit, had never cooked their books? Of course - but the hard truth is that "if" simply did not come to pass.

Truth be told, there are two problems with relying upon "responsible adults." Firstly, there are a lot of adults who ought to be responsible but are not (including some folks at Enron and Arthur Andersen). Secondly, in a competitive environment, a business owner who wishes to be responsible may well find that the cost of behaving responsibly (for instance, preventing pollution) may be faced with the unattractive choice between not cleaning up pollution and allowing his more-cost-effective-but-environmentally-irresponsible competitor to put him out of business.