Public School Drivers —
Building a Quality Workforce

Health & Safety – Protecting
Individual Employees

Ergonomics & Repetitive Stress Injuries

Ergonomics is the study of the interaction of employees and the equipment and tools with which they work. Drivers work with one relatively standardized piece of equipment — vehicles. The design of school buses in particular defies all principles of ergonomic design and results in injuries approaching epidemic levels.

Drivers report injuries to almost all parts of the body, ranging from chronic and severe headaches to neuromas, a cumulative trauma disorder of the foot.

Driving is made up of many tasks involving the risk factors and stressors which cause musculo-skeletal injuries and which over time, result in cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). Some of the causes of these conditions are repetition, prolonged and awkward postures in a non-adjustable and unforgiving work station (the driver's seat!), inadequate rest between tasks, static muscle loading, temperature changes, noise, and vibration.

Prevention is possible and cost-effective for boards of education. Early disorders, untreated and aggravated year after year by badly designed buses and neglect by boards of education, too often spiral into chronic illness, possibly resulting in permanent disability or death. More attention must be paid to this problem by boards of education in order to insure the health and well-being of drivers.

Bloodborne Pathogens

In 1991, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration adopted a standard on "Bloodborne Pathogens" which protects employees in the private sector who come in contact with blood or other body fluids that may contain organisms that can cause serious disease. Of major concern are the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus  (HIV), the cause of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In many states since 1991, this act has been adopted to protect public employees as well.

Much information is needed in regard to this issue and drivers need meaningful and current professional development training in order to protect themselves.

Violence Against Drivers

School bus drivers often work with students whose behavior puts them at risk of physical harm. Fighting and assaults are not con-fined among students, but often are made against the bus driver. Even when the assaults are student-on-student, the driver is at risk of injury when intervening. Physical intervention is not required by the driver when it would create a personal physical danger, but the driver's responsibility for the safety and well-being of students often dictates that intervention.

In any event, common sense and reasonableness should determine just how involved a driver should become in student-on-student violence. When the violence is directed toward the driver, the situation requires a different consideration. The driver has the right at all times to both protect himself/ herself, and to maintain order and discipline. Several basic steps should be observed in either case of violence in the school bus environment:

• Call for assistance, send someone for help, or call 911 if the altercation is out of control or violence is directed against the driver.
  
• Disperse the crowd — by removing the audience, the motivation to fight may be reduced.
  
• Remove or push aside items from the area -- this reduces the risk of further injury or harm and helps to eliminate them as weapons.
  
• Require that supervisors and administrators support actions taken by the driver on the scene. Require that supervisors and administrators assist with difficult or violent situations and students effectively, in order to insure the safety of the driver.

Aside from the obvious, the difficulties that arise with violence against drivers are extensive. Professional development programs for drivers are needed to provide the training in specific skills they require to respond to violence appropriately and to protect them-selves on the job.

Along with meaningful professional development, another area to explore for drivers would be to form a Health & Safety Committee in the Local. This would help establish a data and information base for drivers. A joint committee with the administration would be an ideal situation and certainly provide needed attention to a difficult and dangerous problem for public school drivers.

The following steps are recommended if you are a victim of violence while on the job:

• Call for help immediately! (911, police, fire)
  
• Seek medical attention immediately (911, police, ambulance)
  
• Contact your Association Representative immediately. This should include your Local Representative, and your State UniServ or NEA UniServ Representative. Your Reps. will assist in documentation in order for you to file for Workers' Compensation and medical treatment coverage.
  
• Record the time and date of the incident and document all the facts.

To Section 6: The MYTH: "Bus Drivers Just Drive