u g r o s r e h c w T S O Y S D N A H T L A E H T ...

1 A saf ety gui deGUIDANCEFROMTHENATIONALUNIONOF TEACHERSThis lea fle t outlinesthe ke y legal re quirementson dr iver s and operatorsof schoolmi nibusesand desc ribesthe sup port teachersshouldbegi ven be fore theyag ree to dr ive a schoolmin ib a valuableas setto thoseschoolswhich arefortunateenoughto ownor acce ss to the manybenefitsof out-of-schoolacti vities. Dr ivinga minibusis not,however,a ta sk tobeundertakenlightly thesa fetyof pupilsandstaffshouldalwaysbe thefirstco requiredto drive a to doso,however,youshouldtakecareful noteof theadvicein thislea SRESPONSIBILITIESIf youvolunteer to drivea schoolminibusyouarepersonallyresponsible forits roa anydefects arefoundby thepolice,it is youwhowillbefi ned,poi ntsonyourlice nce,or responsibleforany roadtra makesurethattheminibusin surance pol icy covers: al l theuse s to which themi nibus is put.

2 Th e tot al number of pa ssengersallowedand theto tal weight;and al l thepeopleal lowedto required to ensurethatyouarenotliableforanyda magewhichyoumaycauseto th e minibusitself, as well as to drivea minibusonlyif youhavereceive d youhavere ceivedsuc h training,however,youca nnotbere quiredto drivea lude: familiarisationwiththevehicle ; sim plevehicl e checksto beconductedbeforeeac h jo urney (seenextsectionand checklist); em ergency procedures; passenger care ; useof sea tbelts/harnesse s et c; useof passengerlift,if there is one; loading/un loading and se cur ingof wheelc hairs; journeypla nning;and roadassessmentonthetypesof roadthedriveris likelyto use,forexample,motorways,dualca rriageways,urban/r uralro adsetc.

3 Practicecircuitsaro undtheschoolplaygroundcl earlydo notconstitutepropertr aleducationau thorities provideaccreditedtrainingschemes forminibusdrivers contact yourNUTdi visionsecretary, healthand saf etyadviseror yourNUTregionalor Wa les Officefor de youdrivea mi nibusyouarepersonally responsi bleforanyde fec ts it mayha ve whileit is ontheroa it is essentialthatthereis a propervehiclemaintenancesystem in operationandthatcertainbasiccheck s are ma de e absolutelyconfidentthatadesignatedmember ofstaff hasundertaken anadequatepre-drive check youshoulddo it check listliststhechecks tha t shouldbe yo ur schooldoes notprovideyouwithsomethingsimila r.

4 Youma y wis h toph ot ocopythefor mincludedwi th thisleaflet andus e it to rec ordyourch ec r vehiclemainten anc e systemshouldmonitormoredetail ed mechanic al matterssuchastyrepressure,coolantlevelan dbrake fluidlevelsothatyoucan be confidenttha t thes e the re appear to be anyfaultswhichmightaffect thepassengers saf et y, the n theve hic leshould notbeuseduntil theyare allremedi cordingtotheBel t UpSch oolKids(BUSK)campaign,thecommonestfaulta ffectingminibuses, particularly tw in rea r wheelminibuses,isunder-i nflatedtyres.

5 Whereaccess to reartyrevalvesis difficult,thefi ttingof extensionvalvesis ach ea p andeffectivesol mits ( Section19permits )areissued toorganisationsconcernedwitheducation,so cial we lf areor other ac tivities ofbenefit to ,incl udingschools,to makea chargewithoutha vi ngtoco mplywit h thefullpublicse rvice vehicle operatorrequirementsandwithouttheneedfor thedri verto ha ve a PCV(CategoryD1or D) entitleme ho olsmusthol d a Section19 permit if minibusjo urneys arefundedtoanyexte ntbyoutsidesourcessu chasparents tion19permit s canbeobtainedfromyourlo calTraffic forTrafficArea NetworkOffices ca nbefoundontheVehicle andOperatorSe rvicesAgency we bsi te: ldpersonall y liableif theydrivea minibuswithoutsucha pe rmitwhere oneis charges,suchas fortherecoveryofrunningcostsincludingdep rec ia tion,maybemadeunder a Section19 permit.

6 3 Thepermitarrangements applyonlyin ke a pe rmitminibusabroad,if it is usedforhireor reward, unl es s youholdeitherPCV D1 orD shouldalsobe notedthatwhenaminibusis ta ke n abroad,a tac hographmustbefi ttedanduse d throughoutthejourneyandyoumustobserveECd rivers for mation aboutdrivinga minibusabroadis containedin theNUTB riefing Safety onSchoolMinibuses , availablefromtheNUTwebsiteat youvolunteer to dri ve a minibusyoumust,byla w: ensurea Sec tion19 pe rmithasbeenobtainedifoneis needed; holdth e appropriatefullcardr ivinglic enceto doso; be at lea st 21 yearsold; be insuredto dri ve thevehicle in question; notdrivea mi nibuswit h mor e than16 pa ssengerseats.

7 And havehel d a ful l dri vinglice nceforat le asttwoyearswhendri vinga minibusunder a withanyadditionalrequirementsimposedbyyo urlocaleducationauthority,school or particula rto training,ageor length of qualificationto yo u passed yourcardrivingte st before1 January19 97,youautomaticallygaineda licencewithCategoryB andD1entitle ment, or GroupsA andBon olderli ce nces, qualifyingyouto driveminibusesas wellas private ca If youpas s the cardri vi ng teston afte r 1 Ja nuary1997,youno lo ngerautomati ca lly gai n a lice ncewi th Category D1minibus u willne ed to passth e additionalCategory D1testtodriv e minibuses, togetherwi ththestandardtheorytestan d a medica l exami nation.

8 If yo u arewi llingto do th is, yoursc hoolor LE A should ma keallthenecessaryarrangementsandme et thecostsof thetrai ning,testandmedica l report. Paidti meoffshould be given foral l the se nolegal requirement for a seconddriverbuttheNUTrec ommendstha t, otherthanontheshortestjourneys,a secondtr ain eddrivershouldacc ompanyeverytea cher drivinga rednesson shortjourneys,a sec onddriver,actingas a supervi sor,is likelyto bere teacher isdrivinga groupofpost-16 st ud entsfora shortdi therearetwotra ineddrivers av ailableandonlyoneis a te acher, it is recommendedthat,forshortjourneys,thenon- teacherdrivesandthete se conddriver.

9 Actingas supervisor,wil lhelpto ensurethatpas sengers arewellbehavedandthattheydo notdi stract thedr ive r andwillalsoassistin theeventofanyemergency. Insurancepoli cie s mayalsosp ecifya requirement fo r is alsorec ommendedthata mob ile telephonebecarried inallminibusestoco veremergencysi tua s mustnot,however,be use d by thedriver whiledriving siderationne edsto begiven tominibusjou rneys involvin g pupils withsp mi nib us its el f mustbe sui tablefortheneeds ofall passengers,includingth a generalrule,it is re commendedthatjourneysin volvinggroupsof spe cia l needschildrenshouldhavea minimumof twostaf f.

10 In additionto thedriver. Thisshouldhel p ensurethatthedrivercandrivesafely, wi thoutdis riskassessmentundertaken in advanceof thethe tripwill enableadecisionon staffing levelsto be y havea widerangeof needswhichcouldincludephysical,me ntal,emotional, me dic al, ,in cludingepilepticfi ts,challengingbehaviour,breathingdifficu ltiesandtantrumsareju st as lik el y to occuron theminibusas anywhereels e. Considerationshouldals o begiventothepossibilitythatchi ldren mayundotheirse at be ltsandattempt to escapeoutof ppening,children canbe sa t in windowse atsso as to de layanymovementtowardstheaisleanda member of staffcansit nextto wheelchairsshouldbeaffordedthesame levelofsafety t thisis thecaseis equallyimportantwhenusing a hired mi nibus.