March 2004 Health & Safety Executive Report's Recommendations on Toilet Provision for London Bus Drivers

The request was partially successful.

Dear Transport for London,

A March 2004 Health & Safety Executive, Field Operations Directorate-London Division entitled "London’s Bus Garages" observed the inadequacy of toilet provision for Bus Drivers across London’s Bus Routes and recommended a number of measures for the Bus Operating Companies to take in order to improve the situation. Given that a document entitled “Bus Driver Facility Improvements” (cf. http://content.tfl.gov.uk/sshrp-20170928...) presented by TfL to the 28 September 2017 Meeting of the Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (SSHR) showed that about a third of London Bus Route Termini presently lack staff toilet facilities, can TfL provide documentary evidence of how it monitored the Bus Operating Companies' implementation of the 2004 HSE report’s recommendations?

Yours faithfully,

Tom Kearney

FOI, Transport for London

Dear Mr Kearney

 

Our Ref:         FOI-1943-1718 / FOI-1944-1718 / FOI-1945-1718 /
FOI-1946-1718

 

Thank you for your request received on 17 October 2017 asking for
information contained in the ‘Bus Driver Facility Improvements’ document.

 

Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. 

 

Your request will be processed by TfL, the Greater London Authority and
its subsidiaries to provide you with a response in accordance with the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

 

A response will be sent to you by 14 November 2017. We publish a
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and our financial performance. This includes data which is frequently
asked for in FOI requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

 

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
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In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gemma Jacob

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

[3][TfL request email]

 

 

FOI-1943-1718

 

Dear FOI Transport for London,

I requested that TfL provide documentary evidence of how it monitored the Bus Operating Companies' implementation of the 2004 HSE Report’s recommendation on Toilet Provision for London Bus Drivers.

By law, TfL should have responded by 14 November.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Kearney

FOI, Transport for London

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Kearney

 

Our Ref:          FOI-1943-1718

 

Thank you for your requests received on 17 October 2017 asking for
information contained in the ‘Bus Driver Facility Improvements’ document.
I apologise for the delay in my response.

 

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can
confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

 

Referring to information provided in a document entitled “Bus Driver
Facility Improvements” (cf.
[1]http://content.tfl.gov.uk/sshrp-20170928...)
presented by TfL to the 28 September 2017 Meeting of the Safety,
Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (SSHR), please provide me with
the complete list of the type of toilet facilities available to Bus
Drivers on all 624 Bus Route Termini, identifying the (1) Bus Route (2)
location of terminus [including Borough] (3) Name of Bus Route Operator
(4) Garage of Bus Route and (5) whether the toilet facility is (a) a staff
toilet owned and serviced by the Bus Operator (b) a third party-owned
toilet with 24 hour access to Bus Drivers (c) a third party-owned toilet
with time-limited access (if time-limited, please tell me the exact hours
the toilet is available) (d) available via any other arrangement (c)
nonexistent.

 

Please find attached our latest Facilities Guide which provides the most
up to date details we hold on toilets available to bus drivers in the
fleet. If you cross refer the routes mentioned to our bus fleet data at
[2]https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publication...
you can obtain the garages of the respective bus routes as requested under
(4). The location column is the closest data we hold on the ownership of
toilets (5a) and if they are located on the premises of a bus operator
they would normally be serviced by them directly or through a third party.
The hours of operation of toilets is listed but we do not hold details of
their availability through other arrangements. Also on this spreadsheet
are locations where we plan to add new toilets to the network and as soon
as these come on line we will be able to populate the other columns with
details like the hours between which they can be used. In the meantime,
they show as blank.

 

Referring to information provided in a document entitled “Bus Driver
Facility Improvements”
([3]http://content.tfl.gov.uk/sshrp-20170928...)
presented by TfL to the 28 September 2017 Meeting of the Safety,
Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (SSHR), has TfL ever carried out
a financial analysis of the cost for installing and servicing staff
toilets on the 209 Bus Routes that currently do not have staff toilets or
have not toilets at all? If so, please provide me any documents associated
with this exercise. If not, why has TfL not conducted such an exercise?

 

It was not necessary for us to conduct a financial analysis of installing
and servicing toilets on the 209 routes as we know the costs of procuring
temporary and fixed units, as well as installing them, and have a
prioritised list to address this. In some instances, if routes are
particularly short, we might provide facilities at one end only. If there
is already a suitable facility available such as a public toilet, we would
not need a dedicated unit. Our attached facilities guide lists the current
position and the priorities agreed with the bus operators and bus driver
representatives.

 

Referring to information provided in a document entitled “Bus Driver
Facility Improvements”
([4]http://content.tfl.gov.uk/sshrp-20170928...)
presented by TfL to the 28 September 2017 Meeting of the Safety,
Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (SSHR), has TfL ever tried to
correlate the safety performance of a Bus Route and the type of toilet
facilities made available (or not) to Bus Drivers on Route termini? If so,
please send me a copy of all such analyses. If not, why has TfL never
conducted such an exercise?

 

We have not conducted this exercise as we regard comprehensive provision
of toilets across the bus network as best practice, and an important way
to support the wellbeing of bus drivers in their jobs. This is why we
regularly meet with bus operators and bus driver representatives to ensure
we have a comprehensive picture of where toilets are most needed and
prioritise our efforts accordingly. Serious bus incidents are also
investigated fully to ascertain the circumstances and these outcomes are
shared across the bus operators.

 

A March 2004 Health & Safety Executive, Field Operations
Directorate-London Division entitled "London’s Bus Garages" observed the
inadequacy of toilet provision for Bus Drivers across London’s Bus Routes
and recommended a number of measures for the Bus Operating Companies to
take in order to improve the situation. Given that a document entitled
“Bus Driver Facility Improvements” (cf.
[5]http://content.tfl.gov.uk/sshrp-20170928...)
presented by TfL to the 28 September 2017 Meeting of the Safety,
Sustainability and Human Resources Panel (SSHR) showed that about a third
of London Bus Route Termini presently lack staff toilet facilities, can
TfL provide documentary evidence of how it monitored the Bus Operating
Companies' implementation of the 2004 HSE report’s recommendations?

 

We recognised greater intervention was required to address the provision
of toilets for bus drivers more than 10 years ago. Rather than monitoring
the bus operating companies, TfL worked with them and the union, Unite, to
address how toilets could best be provided across the network. This led to
the formation of a joint working group, greater visibility of areas
lacking in facilities, a prioritisation plan to address them and much more
consistent facilities on the network. There is far more to achieve in this
area with our partners including boroughs and we continue to make progress
finding new locations and installing temporary or permanent toilets.

 

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable
to access it for some reason, please feel free to contact me.

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gemma Jacob

FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

[6][TfL request email]

 

 

FOI-1943-1718

 

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