(06 Oct 2020, 4:03 pm)mb134 wrote For yet another day, Darlington depot are dropping a number of runs this evening. As of 16:55, the ANE Twitter feed reports the following as not running:

7: 17:28 to Darlington
8: 17:52 to Darlington
8A: 17:05 to Ferryhill
8A: 17:28 to Spennymoor
12: 16:52 to Teesside Airport
12: 17:49 to Hurworth
X21: 17:35 to Peterlee
X21: 19:08 to Darlington
X26: 16:51 to Darlington
X26: 17:55 to Marne Barracks
X27: 16:31 to Darlington
X27: 17:35 to Hipswell
X66: 19:25 to Middlesbrough
X66: 20:25 to Darlington
X66: 21:25 to Middlesbrough
X66: 22:25 to Darlington

As well as "gaps in services 2, 4, 9, 10, 13A and 13B". 

I've not noticed anything similar from any other bus depot in the NE (across ANE, GNE and SNE). 

How the depot management at Darlington still have jobs is beyond me, given their blatant disregard for driver safety. (https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18758564.claims-least-five-drivers-tested-positive-arriva-darlington/).

(06 Oct 2020, 4:03 pm)mb134 wrote For yet another day, Darlington depot are dropping a number of runs this evening. As of 16:55, the ANE Twitter feed reports the following as not running:

7: 17:28 to Darlington
8: 17:52 to Darlington
8A: 17:05 to Ferryhill
8A: 17:28 to Spennymoor
12: 16:52 to Teesside Airport
12: 17:49 to Hurworth
X21: 17:35 to Peterlee
X21: 19:08 to Darlington
X26: 16:51 to Darlington
X26: 17:55 to Marne Barracks
X27: 16:31 to Darlington
X27: 17:35 to Hipswell
X66: 19:25 to Middlesbrough
X66: 20:25 to Darlington
X66: 21:25 to Middlesbrough
X66: 22:25 to Darlington

As well as "gaps in services 2, 4, 9, 10, 13A and 13B". 

I've not noticed anything similar from any other bus depot in the NE (across ANE, GNE and SNE). 

How the depot management at Darlington still have jobs is beyond me, given their blatant disregard for driver safety. (https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/18758564.claims-least-five-drivers-tested-positive-arriva-darlington/).

(06 Oct 2020, 5:05 pm)Storx wrote Tbf it sounded like there was systems in place, it's more the drivers have decided to ignore it - there's not too much you can really do. I can't imagine any depot in the country the drivers all social distancing in the canteen or infact any industry, most places I've been in the staff don't social distance with each other and can you really blame them? Whoever has been the snitch I can't imagine being too popular within the depot as no-one in their right mind if they liked their collegues would attack them for socialising on their break.

(06 Oct 2020, 5:16 pm)RobinHood wrote Surely, if drivers are ill - how is that the local management fault? They can't stop it, irrespective of how many precautions they take. We're still seeing transmission of the virus in every school and workplace irrespective of the measures in place.

(06 Oct 2020, 6:22 pm)mb134 wrote - Canteen not being deep cleaned after first positive test, particularly as the drivers that tested positive were using it.

- Drivers not being informed of who needs to self isolate.

- No enforcement of social distancing/mask wearing.

- Buses not being cleaned.

I don't see why drivers would lie about any of this, particularly as it lays some blame onto the drivers. Drivers are at fault too of course, but ultimately management clearly haven't been enforcing key policies - putting the lives of their drivers at risk.

If I was in charge of a team of drivers, who all caught a disease due to my negligence then I'd expect consequences.

(06 Oct 2020, 8:10 pm)RobinHood wrote So, using that same logic, hospitals are seen as key transmission ground for the virus too, yet they are regularly cleaned? Does that mean that NHS staff are not doing their job properly? It's exactly the same principle and evidences that even deep cleaning is not effective.

Appreciate that a local manager bears responsibility, but unless there is a blatent failure, I don't see anyone being held individually accountable. Again, how can a local manager enforce every single rule all day on every single employee, 100% of the time? These are adults, they should be able to understand the requirements themselves and adhere to them.

(06 Oct 2020, 6:34 pm)Andreos1 wrote Forgetting the rights and wrongs of what has gone on in the depot and any shortage of drivers - surely whatever staff are left, are needing to be allocated across the day.
Theres some significant gaps in service to some destinations and those gaps could seriously inconvenience customers. 
Managing and allocating the resource effectively is something they need to be doing, whilst working to overcome whatever is going on internally within the depot. 

If the resource isnt managed or allocated effectively, then the longer term implications on customer perception and bums on seats could be catastrophic. 

Passengers need a reliable service to get them home after work to see their families, relieve kids from childcare or in some cases, get to work. These gaps in service aren't giving them that option.

(06 Oct 2020, 8:58 pm)mb134 wrote Yes? Of course hospitals are regularly cleaned. Deep cleaning absolutely is effective - or at least it's far more effective than doing sod all. 

Clearly there has been a failure though. A further 3 trips have been cancelled since the earlier post, so I'm assuming that's at least another driver off. I appreciate that drivers get ill, and that they have to take responsibility, but I don't see how some of the things mentioned in that article are anything but management's fault? At the moment they should be ensuring that drivers are always in a safe environment - yet they haven't bothered enforcing cleaning the two areas where they spend 99% of their shift (the bus and break room)? 

Then the point you make about them all being adults. By that logic leadership teams are completely redundant then? They are there to set examples and make the workplace safe. By not informing drivers that they need to self isolate, they've also destroyed any trust between the drivers and the management team - if you had been exposed to someone who'd tested positive for a potentially fatal disease then I'm sure you'd want to know.

---

Yep - a further three trips have been cancelled tonight since my earlier post (including a last trip of the day).

Seems that they're going for the approach of "let's get the money in the morning, sod anyone wanting to get home".

(06 Oct 2020, 8:58 pm)mb134 wrote Yes? Of course hospitals are regularly cleaned. Deep cleaning absolutely is effective - or at least it's far more effective than doing sod all. 

Clearly there has been a failure though. A further 3 trips have been cancelled since the earlier post, so I'm assuming that's at least another driver off. I appreciate that drivers get ill, and that they have to take responsibility, but I don't see how some of the things mentioned in that article are anything but management's fault? At the moment they should be ensuring that drivers are always in a safe environment - yet they haven't bothered enforcing cleaning the two areas where they spend 99% of their shift (the bus and break room)? 

Then the point you make about them all being adults. By that logic leadership teams are completely redundant then? They are there to set examples and make the workplace safe. By not informing drivers that they need to self isolate, they've also destroyed any trust between the drivers and the management team - if you had been exposed to someone who'd tested positive for a potentially fatal disease then I'm sure you'd want to know.

---

Yep - a further three trips have been cancelled tonight since my earlier post (including a last trip of the day).

Seems that they're going for the approach of "let's get the money in the morning, sod anyone wanting to get home".

• have coronavirus symptoms and are waiting for a test result
  
• have tested positive for coronavirus
  
• are a member of the same household as someone who has symptoms or has tested positive for coronavirus
  
• have been in close recent contact with someone who has tested positive and received a notification to self-isolate from NHS Test and Trace, either from a contact tracer or via the NHS COVID-19 app
  

(06 Oct 2020, 11:45 pm)Driver9*** wrote "You should not share the identity of a worker who has tested positive with other workers"

Great. So said worker goes on the sick but any colleagues who were in close contact with them just before that are not to be informed of their identity and are expected to carry on as normal, therefore leaving them in a position whereby they can have unknowingly contracted it and then pass it on to others. Tremendous.

Total bollocks but the buses have to keep rolling no matter what.........

(06 Oct 2020, 11:45 pm)Driver9*** wrote "You should not share the identity of a worker who has tested positive with other workers"

Great. So said worker goes on the sick but any colleagues who were in close contact with them just before that are not to be informed of their identity and are expected to carry on as normal, therefore leaving them in a position whereby they can have unknowingly contracted it and then pass it on to others. Tremendous.

Total bollocks but the buses have to keep rolling no matter what.........

(06 Oct 2020, 11:59 pm)Storx wrote It's where track and trace 'should' come in. So they should get in contact with the worker who had it and then it's upto them to name everyone they've been in close contact including those at work. Track and trace is crap though and an absolute shambles though lets be blunt so it wouldn't happen but still. Could've happened at Darlington tbf and if he's named half the depot it would explain the shortages can't imagine every one having the virus though there's barely been any cases down in Darlington compared to other areas.

Can't imagine many drivers taking the work off without being told by a contract tracer though as they couldn't afford 2 weeks unpaid work.

(06 Oct 2020, 11:59 pm)Storx wrote Can't imagine many drivers taking the work off without being told by a contract tracer though as they couldn't afford 2 weeks unpaid work.

(06 Oct 2020, 11:37 pm)Storx wrote Cleaning is a funny one as in principle it should help but it can be counter productive at the same time as it gives a false hope and can make people become less cautious. Unless you are cleaning something every hour or so then it does very little to help overall as say if some driver has Coronavirus and he goes into the break room whether the place was cleaned 2 month ago or 2 hours ago it doesn't make too much difference and by the time it's probably going to be cleaned again the virus will have died anyway on any surfaces (s)he has touched. That said though it's not an excuse to not clean however.

(06 Oct 2020, 11:37 pm)Storx wrote You should help your employees self-isolate if they:

• have coronavirus symptoms and are waiting for a test result
  
• have tested positive for coronavirus
  
• are a member of the same household as someone who has symptoms or has tested positive for coronavirus
  
• have been in close recent contact with someone who has tested positive and received a notification to self-isolate from NHS Test and Trace, either from a contact tracer or via the NHS COVID-19 app
  

You should not share the identity of a worker who has tested positive with other workers.

That's the official guidelines and the bit in red is why they're not telling people to self isolate - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-workplace-guidance

(06 Oct 2020, 11:37 pm)Storx wrote Arriva legally haven't done anything wrong and are just following guidelines there's nothing there about you need to police stuff (that's an adults job to make up their mind) and the self isolating is upto the track and trace team which is something for the politics thread. Whether that's right or wrong in reality is a different matter but I wouldn't say killing morale by shouting at people every 30 seconds while drivers are having their breaks is the best approach either and creating a managers / supervisors vs drivers split within the depot (mind that might happen anyway) and they simply can't disclose that a worker has the virus.

I'm not defending Arriva here but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a similar case at most depots or even any staff canteens and it's more that Darlington has been unlucky rather than they're worse than everywhere else but that is speculation I admit.

(07 Oct 2020, 12:38 am)Adrian wrote Cleaning can never be counter productive to safety, but its only one measure. Personal hygiene (handwashing/sanitising) is just as important. There is a wealth of difference between something cleaned two months ago and two hours ago. There's plenty of material that you can read online about that.

Keeping the workplace clean is one of the Covid secure objectives. The risk assessment should outline exactly what, where and how frequently. In places like staff canteens, where you have fridge doors, kettles, taps, etc, I'd expect a risk assessment to require cleaning every hour or so during core operational hours, as they're all points that are touched frequently. Same goes for things like door handles/push pads.

The risk assessments that I've been reviewing are around 40 pages long per site and cover just about everything you can think of. Every Arriva site should have similar, and the employees should have been consulted on it.

(07 Oct 2020, 12:38 am)Adrian wrote That is a bizarre interpretation of the guidance and not one that I've heard of any employer knowingly use. Whilst you cannot tell workers that "you need to self-isolate or book a test because Joe Bloggs brought Covid into the workplace", you must of course still alert workers likely to have been in contact. There should be a specific plan in the risk assessment in case of a Covid outbreak in a workplace, and even with a single case, the employer needs to report it to the local PHE health protection team.

Given the stage which Arriva Darlington appear to be at present, I would imagine that the local PHE team are in 'crisis management' - part of that will be identifying contacts, communication, etc.

(07 Oct 2020, 12:38 am)Adrian wrote You've suggested a couple of times now that Arriva management should just shrug their shoulders at this. I wouldn't speculate as to what has or hasn't happened here, but the fact remains that employers have a *legal* responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety. There's no ifs or buts about that - see: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Morale doesn't come into it, but I would say that if workers are being 'shouted at' as you suggest, then this clearly is an inappropriate way to train, explain and manage health and safety in the workplace. Workers of course have a duty to comply.

I don't think that referring to a whistle-blower as a 'snitch' is particularly helpful either mind.

(07 Oct 2020, 12:10 am)streetdeckfan wrote That's the thing, the rules they put in place to stop people taking the piss and basically having unlimited holidays are actually causing the virus to spread even more as people are afraid of taking time off to isolate, even if they know they could be carrying it.

(08 Oct 2020, 7:20 pm)mb134 wrote Huge credit to the drivers from other depots who have stepped in to cover some of the Darlington runs over the past few days, and to whoever else behind the scenes who has helped organise it. Good to see that there are people trying their best to ensure folk aren't stranded - hopefully it is recognised and rewarded by those higher up.

Would rather s**t in my hands and clap than use Arriva busses. The tickets app does not work half the time and even if it does then the buesses just either end up being about 20 mins late or don't show up altogether. The worst company I've ever used. If you can help it don't use these con artists.