Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
Issue link: https://digital.thesafetymag.com/i/358709
18 Canadian Occupational Safety www.cos-mag.com n April 22, 2013, John Karagianis, a bus driver with OC Transpo in Ottawa was repeatedly punched, dragged from his bus and violently beaten by an unruly pas- senger — he suffered a broken nose and cracked rib. But Paul Ness, who pleaded guilty to the attack, won't spend any time in jail. House of Commons before — in fact, by all three political parties — so it seems to be an idea that has a pretty general consensus behind it that the issue is important," he says. "It's a very challenging job," says Michael Roschlau, president and CEO of Toronto-based CUTA, a not- for-profit association representing 120 public transit systems across Canada, as well as governments, public sector affiliates and private sector businesses. Bus drivers are responsible for driving a large, heavy vehicle in unpre- dictable traffic conditions, during any type of weather, to a predetermined schedule, while at the same time col- lecting fares and playing a customer service role. "Anybody can get on the bus," says Roschlau. "There are a lot of judgment calls that need to be made about all of these factors — traffic, weather, customer requests. If someone is a quarter short on fare, do we challenge that or not? It's easy from a customer perspective to underestimate what's involved in that job." Many bus drivers start their shift at Goodale, MP for Saskatchewan's Wascana riding, proposed private member bill C-533 earlier this year. The act would amend the Criminal Code to protect public transportation workers, making the assault of on-duty transit operators an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes (meaning Karagianis' attacker would have likely received a much stiffer sentence). "Currently, perpetrators could be charged with assault but no special attention is paid to the fact that you're a transit operator," says Goodale. But, he added, by the nature of their employment, bus drivers are called upon by the public to put themselves in a vulnerable position. Goodale expects legislation to be in place soon. "The issue has been raised in the 4 a.m. and work until noon, or start at noon and work until after midnight — due to split shifts. "It's not unusual that 20 or 30 per cent of operators will be working split shifts of some kind," says Roschlau. "You end up with a really long day (and) you might not get weekends off for the first 10 years." Some 5,000 transit operators, for example, work at the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). New hires are at the bottom of the seniority scale and have to accept the shifts that are left over. "A bus operator is a very solitary job — you're in constant contact with customers, but out of contact with your peers," says Roschlau. On top of this, bus drivers have to deal with everything from frus- trated riders, drunken partygoers and fare evaders to road rage from other motorists. And, in today's world of social media, a frustrated passenger could snap a photo, tweet it and post it on Facebook — whether their complaint has any merit or not. By Vawn Himmelsbach When the sentence was handed down in October, Ottawa's largest bus driver union was stunned by Ness' 12-month suspended sentence and 12-month probation. Amalgam- ated Transit Union Local 279, which is pushing for stiffer penalties for assaults against bus drivers, reported 62 inci- dents of violence against drivers last year, including being splashed with a cup of urine and being spat upon. These types of incidents, however, are not uncommon. More than 2,000 attacks are aimed at transit operators every year across Canada. In 2011, 2,061 bus drivers were assaulted, according to the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA), from being punched in the head to knife attacks and sexual assault. It's one of the reasons why Ralph O Fare JUSTICE Stiffer penalties for assault called on to help protect bus drivers