Safety Management Program Considerations By Carmen Daecher

There is a need to refocus the safety management program for the charter and tour operations. Currently, drivers are at a premium. At the same time, accidents, although mostly minor, appear to be increasing. The costs associated with accidents are escalating.

Your safety management program must refocus to better manage driver hiring, retention, and management with the objective to reduce accidents and the costs associated therewith.

Currently, because of the pressures of business and the lack of drivers, policies are not being consistently applied. Drivers seem less enthusiastic about providing superior customer service and safe transportation. Their attitudes seem to be deteriorating. Negative consequences of this are evidenced in the increasing accident frequencies.

The following principals and programs should be established to refocus your safety management efforts:

• Management, from the top to the bottom, must be unified in the application of all policies. All employees must know the importance of these policies and their ramifications. Only with a solid and united front on the part of management will that message be clear.
• Communication to drivers is essential. Communication and explanation of any new policies as well as ongoing communication, both formal and informal, will be the key to improving and maintaining driver attitudes.
• Finding a sufficient number of full-time drivers is essential to solving this dilemma. By having one or two more full-time drivers than you need, more flexibility in scheduling and allowing drivers sufficient time off for their needs and their families' needs can be accomplished. Drivers should be utilized for other efforts including dispatching, management support, etc.

The number of part-time drivers should be reduced to a core of quality drivers.

This combination should produce a skilled and motivated group of people to operate coaches and provide customer service.

• Specific policies on hiring, retention, and discipline of drivers must be established. These policies will be the foundation from which management actions and the expectation of drivers are defined. In conjunction with these policies, documented procedures for complying with these policies must also be defined.
• Specific procedures should be instituted to manage and hopefully minimize mysterious damage occurring to the buses. Specific procedures for post-trip and pre-trip inspections by drivers as well as new procedures for independent inspections by bus washers should be established. This will be the only documented check and balance you have to pinpoint the source of these damages.

In conjunction with this procedure, stringent disciplinary policies must be established regarding dishonesty and willful refusal to comply with the procedures.

• Specific levels of discipline and retraining must be specified for repeated offenses regarding moving violations and accidents that are preventable. Retraining should always be part of the consequences until dismissal.
• Specific minimum training for new drivers should also be established. This training will include orientation for all policies as well as basic training regarding safe driving and passenger management.
• Road tests should become a central theme for gauging potential new drivers as well as for those drivers who receive convictions for moving violations or are involved in preventable accidents. Through a road test, erosion of driving skills can be pinpointed and retraining can be focused on these skills.
• Interviews must be a part of hiring as well as accident reviews. Interviews should be used to detect changes in attitude or behavior as much as possible.

Interviews should also be used when there are repeated complaints from passengers or the general public. When a change in attitude is detected, retraining should include management of attitude, including management of stress, a re-emphasis on customer management, or any other appropriate topic.

• Positive incentives are also important in this program. From a simple thank you, to notes in paychecks, to boxes of candy; informal reinforcements of positive behavior are important.

Furthermore, the posting of commendation letters, the posting of photographs of employees exhibiting good behavior, etc. should be used in drivers' rooms and other public locations as positive motivation for good behavior and excellent service.

• Regular refresher training for drivers should be instituted. It should be done at least on an annual basis and more preferably on a semi-annual basis. Training should be focused into areas that are associated with frequencies of accidents or complaints.

Part of the training may be to review current accidents among all drivers. Their solutions can be openly discussed and used. This is another positive reinforcement to them that they are heard and appreciated by the organization.

• Anonymous-on-board evaluations or road checks should also be used when possible to view driving behavior. Any behaviors that are found to be deficient or negative should be addressed.
• A Master Driving Program might be an excellent idea for your operation. Providing the motivation and incentive to receive education directly useable in one's job is worthwhile. And providing additional incentives by achieving that status also makes sense.
• Rather than advertising in newspapers for new drivers, targeted recruiting should be used. One method for targeted recruiting is to go to firehouses, police departments, military bases, etc. and seek retiring or end of duty persons who may be interested in coach driving. Another options is to provide existing drivers with a recruiting bonus if they bring an applicant to you that is hired and remains with you for a minimum amount of time (e.g., 3 to 6 months). In both cases, a higher quality prospective driver will immediately be located. And the cost for this type of recruiting will not be much different than advertising in newspapers and interviewing applicants, most of which are not of sufficient quality or qualifications for you. You sell your company to customers; sell it to targeted prospects for employment.

From where I'm sitting, the safety management program must refocus to do the following:

• Hire the right people (and a sufficient number of people).
• Train them to provide safe and superior service.
• Manage their attitudes, reminding them that they are important to the company and rewarding them in little or larger ways for meeting or exceeding the expectations of the company.
• Deal with negative behavior consistently, and decisively. Negative behavior cannot be overlooked and should not be soft pedaled.
• Make sure that all of management stays "on the same page" with regards to living the policies that are established for safety management. A united front is the best way to impress upon drivers that their safety, the safety of passengers, and the safety of the general public is critical and serious issue for you and that customer service is what will differentiate you from anyone else. But most importantly, safety and service go together; one is not greater than the other; the two are strongest when they are together.
• Measure performance by analyzing accidents. If accidents are not going down, then something is missing or something is not going right. Ultimately, safety management is a process. Investigating and analyzing accidents is the measuring stick by which you gauge the effectiveness of the process.

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