Harbourside Management Research Highlights How Workers Fear to Disclose Disability

Results of a new Arts Council England (ACE) funded consultation by Harbourside Management highlight alarming evidence that music industry workers with invisible impairments are putting their health and safety at risk by choosing not to disclose details of their conditions.

In a survey of almost 150 music industry professionals who identified as having a disability or long-term health condition, 71% stated that their impairment or condition is non-visible.

Of these, 88% revealed they “sometimes” or “never” disclose to those who they work with, with 69% of this subset admitting that this had put their health and safety at risk – through fear of seeming less capable, experiencing discrimination or of receiving less future work.

The findings correlate with earlier research by ACE which has found disabled people underrepresented across all levels of the music business. The report found that only 1.8% music industry workers identified as having a disability, compared to the UK population average of 18%.

You can find out more about the research and view the full results of the survey on the Disability Arts website.