Union wants bus crash investigation to look at driver fatigue.

Monday, 13 August 2018

This bus crash near Inglewood is one of three under scrutiny in a Government-ordered investigation, but there are moves to put the entire industry under the microscope.

The Tramways Union wants an investigation into a spate of bus crashes widened to look at broader industry practices and driver fatigue.

Following three recent bus crashes, two of them fatal, Transport Minister Phil Twyford asked for the three crash reports to be examined to see if any lessons could be learned from them and sought assurances that bus certificates of fitness were being 'rigorously applied.'

But Tramways Union secretary Kevin O'Sullivan said a more comprehensive enquiry was warranted because of problems with driver rosters that breached rules around maximum working hours and paid rest breaks.

'We want the enquiry to encompass the whole industry, all the practices in it, because those rosters cause fatigue and that's a big factor in accidents.'

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Issues with bus driver rosters will be tested in an Employment Relations Authority case taken by a Tranzurban Hutt Valley driver.

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O'Sullivan cited the example of a Wellington driver who started work at 7.30am and did not sign off until 9.30pm.

'That's a recipe for tragedy, you cannot sustain those kinds of hours, given that the workforce is fairly elderly.'

A Ministry of Transport report on fatigue found that it was a contributing factor in 585 crashes in 2016, resulting in 36 deaths and 734 injuries, but there were no specific statistics for buses.

The union has already lodged a complaint with police over allegedly illegal driver hours required by Wellington bus company Tranzit since it took over routes from NZ Bus.

The police commercial vehicle safety unit confirmed it is reviewing the rosters to see whether they meet work time rules.

The issue is due to go before the Employment Relations Authority later this month in a case involving a driver employed by Tranzit's Tranzurban Hutt Valley service.

The driver is seeking combined penalties of $40,000 from the bus company for breaching the terms of his individual employment contract, listing 42 shifts where that had occurred, and for breaching the Employment Relations Act by requiring more than 13 hours work and failing to provide paid rest breaks.

Tranzit was approached for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.

O'Sullivan said the union believed bus operators had to comply with three separate pieces of legislation covering hours of work and rest breaks.

'They can't just pick one piece of legislation and say that over-rides everything else because they are all interlinked.'

A spokeswoman for Minister Twyford's office said that separate to the investigation into the three bus crashes, the Government was developing a new road safety strategy which would cover key bus safety matters, including rules and practices for the effective management of driver fatigue.