Ensuring the availability of medical facilities is an important aspect of social inclusion in Ukraine. Entrances and parking spaces must be convenient and safe for all visitors, including people with disabilities, the elderly, parents with prams and other groups with reduced mobility.
According to the new State Building Regulations of Ukraine "Inclusiveness of Buildings and Structures", requirements for arranging accessible parking lots and entrances have been established. In this article, we will look at how to properly organize these spaces so that they meet modern standards and everyone's needs.
Entrances and parking locations should have various elements that improve accessibility. Among them, for example, are tactile navigation strips that help visually impaired people and those who use a white cane to navigate in space and move freely. The color and texture of these stripes should be different from other paving: special tactile tiles, footpaths, lawns or curbs.
On the main traffic routes, such as from the entrance to the territory of the institution to the main entrance to the building, special tactile navigation lanes should be installed. This is especially important if there is a square in front of the entrance with monotonous texture and color paving, which makes it difficult for visually impaired people to navigate.
In secondary directions, such as a recreation area or a car park, the role of tactile navigation can be performed by a curb stone, the border of a path and a lawn, or other standard tactile elements.
Important elements that help to navigate the territory of medical institutions are indicators of the direction of movement.
They should indicate the way to the entrance and parking lots for cars and bicycles.
Indicators perform an informational function and facilitate convenient movement.
To increase safety on the territory of a medical institution, all paths of movement of people and vehicles, parking spaces, stairs, ramps and other objects should be illuminated with lanterns and other lighting elements.
Parking for visitors and employees must include spaces for people with disabilities. Their number is defined as at least 10% of the total number of parking spaces. The total number of parking spaces is calculated according to the formula: one parking space for every 10 beds for institutions with inpatient departments, one parking space for every 10 visitors within 3 hours for outpatient polyclinic institutions, and one parking space for every 10 employees working at the same time.
Parking spaces for people with disabilities must be 1 meter wider than normal ones, so that a person in a wheelchair can use the parking space without hindrance. Such a parking space must be at least 3.5 m wide and 5 m long, equipped with an information sign with an icon of the international accessibility symbol and marked in white.
For a convenient transition from the parking lot to the building, it is important to provide an unhindered connection with the pedestrian zone, by lowering the sidewalk with a slope of no more than 5%. At the entrance to the building there should be a place for passengers with disabilities to get off and board, also equipped with a corresponding sign.
Anti-parking bollards are installed to prevent incorrect parking. These elements must be marked with contrasting stripes to be visible to people with visual impairments.
The bicycle parking structure should be located at the entrance to the building, providing it with a canopy from the rain and so that it does not interfere with pedestrians.
