Managing safety
Through our safety programme, Injury Prevention we are committed to eliminating injuries in the workplace and to our customers. Our safety principle is "If you cannot do it safely don't do it".
Our North American companies are represented on the Group Executive Safety Committee. In addition a North American Executive Safety Council leads the safety programme in North America supported by a safety structure that includes representatives at both regional and site level.
During the past six months we have been working hard to integrate the former Laidlaw sites into our safety structure. The safety performance data presented below includes the new Laidlaw operations.
| North American Operating Company Safety Performance 2007/08 compared to the previous 12 months | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Student | First Transit | First Vehicle Services | Greyhound | |
| Lost Time Injuries (over 1 day) per 1,000 employees per year | -2% | -53% | -37% | -14% |
| All injuries per 1,000 employees per year | +21% | -17% | -19% | +3% |
| Passenger injuries per million miles | 50% | +4% | NA | +14% |
| Vehicle collisions per million miles | -11% | -7% | NA | +8% |
NA - not applicable
We have achieved significant reductions in our employee lost time injury rates particularly in First Transit. The all injury rates have also reduced except in First Student where the increase arises from the integration of the Laidlaw sites, whose average injury rates were 20% higher than our existing operations. Our passenger injury rate has increased in all companies. Although the rate has risen significantly in First Student, the company has by far the lowest passenger injury rate in the Group. Analysis indicates that this increase is due not to collisions but slips, trips and falls and student misconduct. We describe below some of the actions we are taking to address this.
There were no employee or passenger fatalities this year in North America. A small number of third party fatalities associated with the operation of our buses did occur in circumstances beyond our control. We deeply regret these incidents and continue to develop our drivers' ability to manage unexpected circumstances through ongoing development of our driver training programmes.
Safety Initiatives
In the latter part of this year we have worked hard to integrate the former Laidlaw sites into our safety management programme. We have reviewed management arrangements in both companies and are building on best practice.
Over the coming twelve months we will work towards a consistent safety culture across all our operations, building a world-class safety management system that aims to eliminate injuries and collisions and prevent instances of sleeping children left on buses.
Reducing Injuries to Our Employees
We continue to focus on communicating safety issues and improving practices wherever incidents occur. For example, in First Transit we have introduced additional training on entering and leaving vehicles and handling passengers who use mobility aids. In First Student, leadership training helps managers and supervisors demonstrate confident leadership on the safety agenda.
Changing Safety Culture
As part of developing our safety culture First Transit has introduced the concept of 'safety Norms' which represent accepted ways of doing things in a particular setting. Where employees deviate from the norm their behaviour is corrected. Defining what is acceptable makes it easier for people to correct each others' behaviour and work to what is considered accepted practice.
Bus Passenger Safety
Our ongoing commitment to driver training is an important factor in seeking to reduce passenger injury rates. The Smith System Defensive Driving training provides the basis for working with drivers to the development of safer driving habits.
In First Student, investigation into the increase in the passenger injury rate has shown that it is not collision related. The incidents occurred as a result of a range of issues including driver operation such as driving over bumps, braking, student slips, trips and falls and student misconduct. Additional driver training has been introduced focusing on safe manoeuvring of the vehicles. New training on passenger management is also being provided to help reduce injuries caused by misconduct.
During the last twelve months we have spent over $6 million in installing child and theft alarms on our First Student buses. The alarms on the former Laidlaw buses are being updated. These alarms prevent drivers from leaving the bus without checking for sleeping children as they are activated from the rear of the vehicle. The number of sleeping children left on our buses is very small and has significantly reduced this year. We are committed to eliminating these incidents completely.
In First Transit our passenger injury rate has increased slightly. Analysis of safety performance data indicated that backing collisions were an issue. Mirror clinics have been introduced to address this. We are also extending the use of Drive Cams. These record aspects of driver behaviour and can be used to help drivers review their driving techniques and correct problem areas.