Magna gets seal of approval from the Royal National Institute for Deaf people

6/4/2010

Actions are louder than words for Magna, which has been given a top award for offering a fully accessible service to customers with hearing problems.

The Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) has just awarded the prestigious Louder than Words charter to Magna Housing Association.

Donald Rushton, chairman of Magna Housing Group, said: “This is a terrific achievement and shows we are fully committed to equality and diversity.

“Staff have worked hard to reach this standard and it is already beginning to make a difference to our residents and the people who work for us.”

For example, a member of staff has just helped a profoundly deaf person sign up for a new home by using British Sign Language (BSL).

Everyone at Magna has taken part in hearing awareness training, with a further 70 employees taking part in a BSL course. Six of them subsequently then went on to work towards gaining an accredited qualification in BSL over nine months.

And now, the knowledge and confidence they gained from that training has enabled three Magna employees to design their own basic BSL training course for colleagues.

To qualify for the Louder than Words charter, Magna had to meet or exceed 10 quality standards:

  • staff should be trained to communicate effectively with customers
  • a clear, visible and easy-to-read deaf aware policy
  • information about products and services should be readily available and fully accessible
  • premises should have appropriate, working equipment
  • a good listening environment
  • clear health and safety procedures
  • all requests for communication support should be met whenever possible
  • registration with Text Relay 
  • consultation about the organisation’s deaf awareness
  • information about recruitment and development that is readily available and fully accessible

Like any award, the RNID charter will be monitored to make sure quality standards continue to be met. Magna has an action plan to improve and monitor its services to the deaf community.
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