I have been contacted by quite a few drivers in the last few weeks regarding Low Floor Buses and the air-conditioners not operating correctly. Firstly we have to get our facts straight and do what the manufacturers suggest. Set them to 22 - 24 degrees NOT 18. If the units can't cope on 22 don't set them lower. This will cause them to freeze up and fail. If we have done as suggested and they are still not doing the job, where do we go from there?

I have done the rounds of anyone who can help and have received the following responses.

I first rang my fellow TWU organiser Mick Knowles to see if anything had been done in the past that we weren't aware of. Mick knew of nothing official but said there had indeed been some incidents in the past. I next contacted Worksafe. They have nothing official in place and there is nothing legislated.

Worksafe agreed something needed to be done if drivers were being subjected to extremes of temperature. They suggested that a risk assessment be conducted in conjunction with PTA or the individual companies.

They also suggested that maybe the Health Department could be of some assistance. The Health Department hasn't bothered to respond as yet, but that will be another matter.

I then spoke to PTA and they also agreed that if drivers were driving hot buses something should be done. They suggested that this should be referred to the companies
in the first instance as there may already be some policy in place.

I have spoken to each bus firm's managers and the consensus seems to be that "it is at the driver's discretion."

If the driver has the temperature set correctly and the bus is still too hot or the passengers are complaining then that driver needs to contact the depot co-ordinator to let them know. There is no magical number that decrees that a bus should not be in service and each driver will feel the heat at a different level.

What we must remember is that we have to be aware of the temperature and how it affects us fatigue wise and the need to compensate by drinking more and take a break if needs be. It was also suggested that if a bus is hot, it doesn't necessarily mean that the aircon is not working. If the temperature outside is in the 30's then the bus should be fine, if approaching the 40's then the bus will be hotter of course. It's up to you to decide that it is too hot.

All the companies did say that the bus needs to be defected if it need fixing. We figure if you are driving a bus and the temperature is way into the 30s then you need to act. Firstly pull over and open your doors to let some fresh air in. If you have passengers please let them know what you are doing.

CALL YOUR DEPOT!! Let them know that the bus is too hot and that you require a change off.

It's now in their court. Please use common sense, if you only have a short way to go, complete the run and call in from there. If however you are doing the Circle Route or another longer run call it in. But you have to decide what to do when they call you and say we have no buses. can you continue on.

AS SOON AS YOU AGREE TO CONTINUE .... YOU ARE THE ONE THAT IS LIABLE SHOULD SOMETHING HAPPEN.

It may just require you to shut the bus down for 10 minutes or so before you can start it up and continue.

Please when you return to your depot either defect the bus yourself or make sure it has been defected. We are having difficulties at the moment getting our point through to managers when buses have not been defected and we are trying to kick someone's arse.

Again as we always suggest let your delegate know if a bus is defected and the reason so that he can bring up any ongoing defect problems with the depot managers, and then onto me.