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skoolbus
Senior Member
USA
87 Posts |
 Posted - 07/24/2003 : 08:48:19 AM
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How about tossing in some potential topics for discussion in driver safety meetings? These can be issues that you have dealt with in the past, ideas that you have for the upcoming school year, things you have had to address out of necessity, morale building, or just plain old fun stuff.
I'd love to hear from you...especially management. |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2003 : 08:59:05 AM
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From The Jul 24 2003 - The Morning Call - Pennsylvania
The Easton Area School District is being honored for establishing an in-house Labor-Management Committee.
Angela Donaldson, Easton Area administrative assistant of human resources, said she; Joseph Kish, assistant to the superintendent; Ronald Heckman, transportation supervisor; and Ronald Pacchioli Sr., transportation manager, meet monthly with the bus drivers.
Donaldson said the goal of the meetings is to prevent grievances.
''We have the drivers write all their concerns down, bring them to the table, and we hash them out,'' she said. ''By discussing them at the table, we hope to prevent the grievance before it goes to arbitration.''
Donaldson said Robert Millett, state mediator, and Dominic Buscemi, the union president, also attend the meetings.
Click Here for story |
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Sherm
Top Member
USA
621 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2003 : 10:13:22 AM
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JK's response outlines a "town hall" meeting; an excellent idea. However, I keep these meetings separate from safety meetings so the emphasis can remain on safety-related issues.
We try to do as many "hands on" activities as possible in safety meetings, whether it be emergency evacuations, pre-trip practice or a skills test set up in the parking lot, etc. This eliminates the monotony of a speaker/audience meeting where many do not pay attention.
Here's a suggestion: put all your drivers in a bus (or two buses if necessary) and fill the bus(es) with smoke from a safe source. Make the drivers and monitors, too, evacuate out the rear exit. A 71-passenger bus seems to be about 3 miles long when you cannot see in front of you! This exercise provides a more realistic drill and makes drivers realize that an evacuation during a true emergency may not be as simple as they think.
Local firefighters and rescue personnel make great resources for safety meetings, too. Work with them and plan with them on a regular basis and hope you never have to work together for real. If you do, things will go much smoother because you will have prepared in advance. |
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gonzosbus
Senior Member
USA
142 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2003 : 11:34:21 AM
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| Operation Lifesaver gives a good training program on Railroad Safety. I have also had Public relations people come in from Sky Harbor International Airport(we do alot of trips to the airport here) and from our Valley Metro Public bus system. Qstraint has a rep that will come out and do a class on Wheelchair restatints, we have also had the Human resources trainer for the Arizona Diamondbacks/Phoenix Suns comein and give a 4 hour workshop on customer service. All of these were free classes and the staff enjoyed them. Just some Ideas... Thanks Armando Cuellar, Madison Elem. SD#38. Phoenix, Arizona. |
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KMM
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2003 : 6:15:03 PM
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I think with the rising problem of weapons being brought to school by students, a hands on trainig session about weapons would be a good topic for drivers to learn. Ask for cooporation with the local law enforcement to help. One thing is for sure - we are practically alone out there with the students and there may be no adult back up for support should the situation arise. It could become a situation where a driver may have to act upon an emergency or life could be lost.
A good video comes to mind. It is a law enforcement training video called "Surviving Edged Weapons" which provides information critical to survive a knife or other weapon attack or threat.
We never know what could happen out there. I think it is importaint to be prepaired. |
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Peter
Top Member
USA
1057 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2003 : 9:29:54 PM
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| Along those same lines, drivers should know about acceptable use of force. Many drivers may be afraid to defend themselves or their students for fear of lawsuits. They need to know when it is OK to restrain someone and how to do it. |
Spicer is nicer. |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2003 : 11:17:49 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Peter
Along those same lines, drivers should know about acceptable use of force. Many drivers may be afraid to defend themselves or their students for fear of lawsuits. They need to know when it is OK to restrain someone and how to do it.
The answer here is clear, concerning physical violence other than personal self-defense: Physically intervene AT YOUR OWN RISK, unless policy specifically states the driver must intervene - which, just to mention, would be an unlawful policy. And expect big problems where no camera on the bus to video what happened.
There is no law enforceable policy that can demand anyone intervene in violence outside trained law enforcement and personnel specific for that task. The law demands it reported to law enforcement immediately for their physical intervention. How many schools state this in their policy?
A course that gave the best training in my opinion - concerning fighting on the bus that a verbal command failed to stop - suggested to immediately stop the bus in the road, turn on all lights, including the crossing safety lights, open the front door, allow all students to evacuate the bus and wait in a safe area away from the bus and traffic until police arrived.
I support this concept completely. Light that school bus up like a Christmas tree and wait for the sound of police sirens comming from every direction.
Kids made aware of this policy lose interest in getting into fights on the school bus. There have been no fights on any bus I've driven for many years. Fight on this bus and both students can trust they are going down, along with any student that encouraged the fight.
Even better, when properly trained in violence prevention, is to spot a pending fight and deal with it before it escalates to physical violence. But doing this skillfully requires specific training most school bus drivers are not provided.
To end many a potential fight, deal with any bullying and disrespect on the bus immediately - rearrange seating or place the instigators off the bus and escorted to the school office while the rest of us go home.
Do not attempt to break up a fight, unless you are certain you can do so without injury to yourself. (jk)
Mom knows the high price of bullying
Bullies make my school bus hell
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Edited by - JK on 07/25/2003 12:57:07 PM |
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Peter
Top Member
USA
1057 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2003 : 12:33:03 PM
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I was referring to self defense.
There have been a number of incidences of drivers being assaulted by students in the past few years. In some cases, the drivers have been injured because they are afraid to touch students at any time. During training everyone learns that its best to avoid contact with the students and some drivers are fearful, even when under physical attack, that they may land in some trouble if they lay a hand on a student.
We had a safety meeting about how to defend yourself and restrain your attacker without causing serious injury to the student. Drivers need to be reassured that you don't have to sit there and take a beating for fear of any repercussions for touching a student. As uncommon as these situations are, training should cover them, just in case. |
Spicer is nicer. |
Edited by - Peter on 07/25/2003 12:34:39 PM |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2003 : 12:53:34 PM
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"I was referring to self defense."
Good points Peter. Misunderstood your post.
Self-defense is an issue and the courts consistently support the bus driver when attacked. No person, including a student, must sit and take it. A bus driver under physical attack and not trained, or trained and the child still ends up seriously injured or dead, (There had better be a camera on board), intent is the issue in the courts. It is for that reason intent must be proven were a bus driver badly injured or killed while in the process of trying to break-up a fight between kids. How does this post compare to the recent training? And was there any mention that every school bus should have a working camera?(jk) |
Edited by - JK on 07/25/2003 1:04:03 PM |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2003 : 4:32:07 PM
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| peter, who did you get to teach the drivers how to defend themselves? i have pushed for this at our cotract but got nowhere and we too are seeing moe and more violance toward not only drivers but monitors and other students to the point that we have had to have the police and ambulance called several times last year, one girl was very badly beattin by another student right on the bus, we have had so much violance that it has just got to stop...before someone is killed.. it isnot uncommon to hear a driver come on the radio frantic scraming for the police and i have heard our dispatch way to slow to call....they keep trying to ask questions andi feel all they need to ask is where are you after calling the police and getting them on the way then dispatch can ask more questions and they can always call the police off. it is scary. we have a huge juvinall center in the city i drive and it is right down the street andi have said why not see if some one from there can come teach us soem ways to defuse and if needed the best ways to defend our selfs and our other kids with out hurting the violante person...i will not allow fighting on my bus i have got into the middle of many many fights and thank God i have never been hurt. but i have seen drivers brused and bleeding, and it gets worse each year. |
Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
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Peter
Top Member
USA
1057 Posts |
Posted - 07/25/2003 : 9:54:53 PM
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Our driver trainers demonstrated and gave instruction, relaying what they had learned recently at a train the trainer type seminar. All of our safety personnel regularly attend training sessions on various safety and training topics.
The only mention of the camera issue was that drivers should request a vcr be installed in the bus if there are ongoing problems. Many of our buses have the blank box type setup with a camera but no vcr. Contractors are not motivated to purchase video equipment for their buses when districts do not mandate its use. Oddly, Minneapolis school district (for which we contract many routes) does not allow cameras to be used on buses. I'm not sure why, as this is the district where I've nearly been hit by flying snowballs and D size batteries on the bus. Sure could have used one those days. |
Spicer is nicer. |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2003 : 4:23:50 PM
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| wow.you are not allowed to use cameras....you know what would be good if yu had a good student on that route that sat in the front or the rear and recorded it on their own camcorder. them maybe if they seen it happen ? who know, could you bring your own ? my manager last year had what looked like a regular 35mm camera but it was a camera/camcorder it was so cool, no one would think you were tapeing them,,,,,,,i use to be a PI so i really get excited over anything like that, a d size battery throwen from the middle or the back of the bus could hurt someone very badly......your going to have to start wearing helmet or build a cage around your seat to stay alive. I have been hitin the head while the bus was moving by a empty pop can but the little girl said she was trying to make a basket..i got to their stop and sent her brother to get their mom and told on her........but my Lord....a D size battery....just remember.......DUCK !!! |
Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
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KMM
Advanced Member
USA
271 Posts |
Posted - 07/26/2003 : 10:12:40 PM
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| Use of force in self defense defined: "Use only that ammount of force which is required to overcome a resistance." |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2003 : 11:21:44 AM
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KMM does that apply to schoolbus drivers > or is it just a legal difination ? and i wonder about co policy, even if you are allowed by law to defend yourself useing only as much force as is beign used toward you, if co policy says yu never touch a child then i would think that you could still be fired for defending your self.? it is a catch 22
i have emailed my district manager to ask him what the co policy is in this matter i will let youknow what he said |
Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
Edited by - macondriver on 07/27/2003 11:31:03 AM |
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Chime in with ideas...
