School Bus Fleet, November 2017

16 SCHOOL BUS FLEET NOVEMBER 2017 WWW SCHOOLBUSFLEET COM ASSESSING APPLICANTS Chattanooga crash and the charges against that former school bus driver hinder recruiting efforts according to Taylor Probably the biggest thing hurting us people here are seeing that gentleman sitting in jail Taylor says It scares potential candidates off Addressing common challenges The industrys challenges in recruiting and retaining school bus drivers and the risks posed by unsafe drivers also led the National Association for Pupil Transportation to the Judgment Index NAPT Executive Director Mike Martin says that the association recognized a common concern among transportation directors As he puts it How can I be sure that the people Im bringing in to drive buses and work in my school system are going to be reliable competent responsible people who have safety as their foremost goal NAPT worked with The Dash Group to develop a customized version of the Judgment Index dubbed the School Bus Driver Safety and Risk Index The online assessment costs 40 per use and its expected to take applicants 10 to 15 minutes to complete As with the general version of the Judgment Index a report is provided to the employer after an applicant takes the assessment An overall result rates the candidate from very weak at the low end to preferred at the high end Ratings are also given for 15 specific categories such as focus and concentration stress levels following directions problemsolving ability and capacity to deal with difficult people and situations NAPT recommends using the School Bus Driver Safety and Risk Index as a first line screening for applicants Martin notes that it doesnt replace an interview but it can help rule out weak candidates before spending more time and money on them for interviews background checks and drug tests Once youve got the results you can determine whether to bring the applicant in for an interview Martin says Its another piece of information that tells you about someones capacity for exercising good judgment Catherine Hickem CEO of The Dash Group explains that the index uses an algorithm to assess driver candidates based on their values and she says it cant be gamed Youre going to know who is sitting in front of you not just what they tell you Hickem says This assessment really gives you insight thats just not going to come out on a resume or in a quick interview Taylor of Cleveland City Schools says that using an assessment provides an objective measure to stand on and it can back up the more subjective impressions of an applicant You do your best in job interviews to try and figure out if the person you are considering will be safe and even though you may feel unsure about them you may not have any reason to turn them down for the job he says Since I have been using the Judgment Index the potential bus drivers that I had questionable interviews with have generally been the ones the index indicates a problem with Need for objective screening Unbiased data on a driver candidate is hard to get from a resume or an interview notes Bill Bland president of ProDriverHR a technology company based in St Albert Alberta I call a resume a marketing document Whos going to give you a resume that says anything but good things about themself Bland says adding that interviews can also pro Supporting Evidence From Forklift Drivers While the Judgment Index is new to the realm of pupil transportation it has been used in other industries for about 40 years To provide evidence of the indexs effectiveness Dash Group CEO Catherine Hickem points to results from a company that she describes as the worlds largest carpet distributor The company began using the Judgment Index for forklift drivers in one of its divisions Hickem says that the division had an Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA incident rate of 50 Thats a really bad score OSHA investigates when it is over 10 Hickem says The volume of accidents was highly significant The company division used the Judgment Index not only in hiring new forklift drivers but also to help identify safety training needs among existing drivers Over a period of about 18 months the divisions OSHA incident rate improved drastically dropping from 50 to 053 The rate is calculated by taking a companys number of injuries multiplying it by 200000 and then dividing by the number of hours worked by all employees Naturally the increase in safety came with other benefits for the company Costs went down from a reduction in accidents and healthcare product damage and machinery damage Hickem adds The School Bus Driver Safety and Risk Index gives candidates an overall rating as well as marks for 15 specific categories