Bus Safety News

Bus Safety News

Summer 2014, edition 28

From the Director 2

Carrying capacity signage 4

Bravo Zulu4

Forum update5

Red tape reduction 6

Buyer beware – seller be helpful 7

Letting us know when your circumstances change 7

Summary of compliance activities 8

Risk management and registered operators 9

Bus prosecution gathers pace9

Steering a worthy cause 10

Did you know? 10

Reviewing and monitoring risks 11

Finalising site visits/gap audits 12

Accredited bus operators – have you paid your annual fees? 13

Accreditation and trusts 13

Welcome onboard! 14

Offences against bus safety laws 14

From the Director

Welcome to the 2014 winter edition of Bus Safety News (BSN).

With the days now getting shorter, colder and wetter, it is timely for all bus operators to review their risk management processes to take into account changed safety risk factors facing them during this time of year. Operators who provide bus services in, to and from the Victorian Alps and snow resorts need to be particularly mindful of the added safety challenges of operating in cold and icy conditions. A participant at the January bus safety forum related his experience of a bus brake system freezing while parked overnight in alpine conditions.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, it is possible for similar conditions and therefore a similar incident to occur in Victoria. Bus operators servicing alpine areas need to manage such risks by, for example, adding to the pre-trip inspection checklist actions to ensure the handbrake has not frozen overnight.

Transport Safety Victoria (TSV) regularly receives complaints from bus passengers (and others) concerning the safety of bus services. In most cases, TSV is able to verify the safety of a bus service by reviewing the operator’s safety risk management processes documented in the operator’s management information system. However, when the operator maintains poor or inadequate records, the investigation must seek further evidence. The outcome for the bus operator is added time and effort to satisfactorily address the complaint which could have been avoided by maintaining adequate risk management processes and records.

On 19 May 2014 a new law – the Transport (Safety Schemes Compliance and Enforcement) Act 2014(Vic) (TSSCEA) - came into force. The purpose of this law is to ensure Victoria’s local bus, marine and rail safety sectors enjoy the same levels of compliance and enforcement support as provided by recent national transport safety regulatory schemes. The new law also helps avoid anomalies between state and national regulation.

Of relevance to the safety of bus services in Victoria, the TSSCEA has added two new transport safety officer (TSO) powers. These powers are:

1Improvement notices can now be issued when a TSO reasonably believes that a person is providing bus services that threaten safety or other services that compromise bus safety.

2When a TSO is interviewing a person for compliance and investigative purposes, that person must answer a question or provide information or documentation even if it might incriminate the person or expose the person to a penalty.

In relation to point 2, a TSO is required to warn the person being interviewed of the requirement to answer questions, or to provide documents requested, even if such answers to the questions or documents produced would incriminate the interviewee. The TSO must also advise the person being interviewed thatany information or document obtainedunder this process is not admissible as

evidence against that person in a criminal proceeding or a proceeding for the

imposition of a civil penalty. Therefore,a person must answer a TSO’s questionsif given formally under warning, but anyinformation provided in this contextcannot be used as evidence against theperson, except:

Further, when TSOs interview under such a warning:

• if the person lies to the TSO there are severe consequences
• if the person fails to answer the questions or provide the information or document, that person risks a penalty of $5,000 for a natural person or $25,000 for a body corporate, and
• any information or document that is required to be kept under a transport safety law is admissible in evidence against the person in a criminal proceeding, even if that information or document is provided during an interview under warning.

Also on 19 May 2014, the new Transport (Safety Schemes Compliance and Enforcement (Infringement) Regulations 2014 came into force. As these infringements are a new regulatory tool in the bus safety regime, TSV has decided to allow a grace period until the end of 2014 before employing these new infringement powers. A list of the new infringements is given later in this newsletter.

Once again, I would like to remind bus operators with deemed accreditation that when their accreditation ceases they will no longer have legal permission to operate a bus service. This applies to over two thirds of the bus operators providing commercial bus services in Victoria. If you value your bus service then you must become accredited under the Bus Safety Act 2009 (Vic) (BSA) prior to 31 December 2015.

Processing an accreditation application can take up to three months and more than two thirds of applications received by TSV over the last three and a half years have been incomplete. Considerable time was lost while TSV’s accreditation and registration team chased up documents from applicants. The longer deemed accredited bus operator’s wait to submit their application, the higher the risk that it will not be approved prior to their deemed accreditation ceasing.

My message to all bus operators holding deemed accreditation is – it is your bus service and it is your legal responsibility to obtain the legal permission to operate that bus service. For operators with school, route or demand responsive bus service contracts with Public Transport Victoria, their contract is conditional on them remaining accredited. No accreditation means no contract!

I hope you enjoy this edition of BSN.

STEPHEN TURNER

Director, Bus Safety

Carrying capacity signage

Bus operators have until 31 December 2014 to display the carrying capacity in the authorised manner.

All buses with seating positions for 13 or more adults, including the driver, must display the maximum number of passengers that may be safely carried as:

• determined by the manufacturer and specified on a compliance plate affixed to the bus, or
• specified in a certificate issued by a licensed bus tester.

The following text “MAXIMUM SAFE CARRYING CAPACITY XX PASSENGERS” must be clearly displayed on or in the bus using letters that are at least 25 millimetres high and of proportionate width.

A minimum of two notices must be displayed on the bus and one must be inside the bus in a location that is clearly visible from the driver’s seating position. The other must be in a conspicuous position on the outside of the rear of the bus.

Bus operators accredited in another state or territory, who are accredited to operate buses in Victoria, are not required to display notices as stipulated above if:

• the buses operated in Victoria are registered in the other state or territory,and
• the regulator of that state or territory requires the bus operator to display notices, in a different format, that specify the maximum number of passengers that may be carried.

Visit the TSV website ( to download the Maximum number of passengers fact sheet.

Bravo Zulu

TSV wishes to congratulate the team at Driver Coastal Pty Ltd on their proactive approach to safety risk management. It was shown in the planning of the new Driver Coastal open top double deck bus hop on hop off sightseeing service on the Mornington Peninsula, which is expected to commence in November 2014.

In January this year, Mark Driver (Director and Fleet/Operations Manager at Driver Group) contacted TSV’s accreditation and registration section and advised that Driver Coastal was considering a new tour bus service using open top double deck buses.

Open top double deck tour services in Victoria present operators with some unique safety challenges – such as electrical and entanglement risks from the overhead tram power system in Melbourne and Bendigo. Identifying these risks during the planning phase of a new bus operation is key to the operator ensuring that adequate controls are put in place before the service commences operation. It demonstrates that the operator is complying with their legal obligation to ensure the safety of their bus service.

Driver Group provided TSV with a range of information, including the characteristics of the buses that will be used, the proposed routes and a timetable for implementing the service. Following internal discussions, TSV sought from Driver Group a risk assessment covering the proposed service. This was provided to TSV in late February and reviewed by TSV’s safety risk engineer. Feedback was given to Driver Group and the company submitted evidence to TSV that the few minor matters highlighted by TSV had been addressed.

At the end of March, TSV was able to confirm to Driver Group that it foresaw no issues with the proposed service. TSV wishes the team at Driver Group and Driver Coastal every success for this new service.

Forum update

TSV recommenced its bus safety public forum program in 2014, with forums in January (Melbourne) and April (Bairnsdale). A forum in June is planned for Bendigo.

At the first forum in Melbourne, approximately 50 bus operators were presented with an analysis of the factors that contributed to the 2005 Texas coach fire in which 23 passengers were fatally injured. The joint TSV / bus industry /Office of the Chief Investigator workshop drew on the expertise of TSV’s human factors specialists. A number of important safety lessons relevant to Victorian bus operations were identified by the work of the joint group.

The forum also offered operators the opportunity to directly quiz TSV’s managers responsible for accreditation and registration, audit and compliance and inspection. The questions raised by operators at the forum were collated and these, along with TSV’s answers, were subsequently published in the News section of TSV’s website (

The second forum, which was held in Bairnsdale, also attracted a good audience with over 40 operators taking part. This forum followed a similar format to the Melbourne forum.

TSV intends to continue with its bus safety public forum program and invites bus operators to send through their suggestions for preferred location and timing. While it is impossible to satisfy everyone’s wish to have a forum close to their location, TSV will endeavour to select forum locations that maximise operator attendance.

Suggestions for future bus safety public forum locations can be emailed to

Red tape reduction

As part of the TSV 2013-2014 corporate plan, the bus safety branch implemented a ‘Red Tape’ project.

The project is carefully examining how we go about administering the Bus Safety Act (BSA) with a view to reducing the regulatory burden on bus operators and improving the administration of the BSA.

The project has identified several potential improvements, including:

• Changing the accreditation application process so that applicants can automatically surrender any previous accreditations at the time of applying for accreditation under Part 4 of the BSA.
• Implementing electronic means for accredited bus operators to pay their annual accreditation fees.
• Investigating possible changes to the quarterly vehicle safety inspection (VSI) regime currently included in accredited bus operators’ maintenance management system.
• Eliminating the need for gazettal of non-commercial courtesy bus services.
• Eliminating the requirement for applicants for bus operator accreditation or registration to provide copies of current roadworthy certificates for the buses to be used in their service.
• Eliminating the requirement for applicants for accreditation to provide a national police check with their application.

The first three proposed red tape improvements are within TSV’s authority. The first has been implemented and the second is expected to be in place from the start of the next financial year. The possible changes to VSIs are the subject of a joint TSV/ BusVic 12 month trial that is carefully examining whether maintaining a bus to only manufacturers’specifications will in any way diminish the mechanical fitness of the bus in comparison with a bus maintained to the current VSI regime. Once the results of the trial are available in mid-2015, any changes to the VSI regime will be communicated to the Victorian bus industry.

The latter three items are matters that would require changes to law and are therefore not within TSV’s powers to change. TSV is developing a submission recommending these matters be investigated by the Department of Transport, Planning and Local infrastructure.

Buyer beware – seller be helpful

At a recent compliance activity at the Twelve Apostles in Port Campbell National Park, an unaccredited operator was found to be providing a commercial bus service to a group of international tourists.

The operator was issued with a notice which prohibited him from continuing with the bus service and was required to charter a local accredited bus operator to transport the tourists back to Melbourne.The operator’s explanation to the TSO was that he was not aware of the requirements.

TSV often receives enquiries from persons who have purchased a bus or a bus business, are unaware of the requirements and expect TSV to permit them to operate until they become registered or accredited. Although a completed application for registration can be processed fairly quickly, the processing of an application for accreditation is more complex.

While it is up to the individual to conduct the necessary research before operating a bus service, TSV believes existing bus operators can assist in spreading the word.

Before entering into any commitment with a prospective purchaser, please advise them to contact TSV to obtain information about registration or accreditation.

Letting us know when your circumstances change

Bus operators are required to notify TSV when there has been a change in their circumstances.

This includes a change in the responsible person (for accredited bus operators) or contact person (for registered bus operators), company name or organisation, contact details and the type of service and/or number of buses they operate.

Operators must notify TSV in writing within seven days of becoming aware of the change by emailing

Summary of compliance activities

Since the last edition of Bus Safety News, TSV has, in conjunction with Victoria Police, VicRoads, Parks Victoria and the Taxi Services Commission, conducted compliance inspections at Phillip Island, the Twelve Apostles, Colac, Melbourne Airport and the Yarra Valley.

The most common area of operator non-compliance was not having fire extinguishers tested within the required timeframe.

The table below details the outcomes of the compliance activities conducted between January and April 2014 and the non-compliances identified.

TSV is following up these non-compliances with the applicable bus operators.

Where non-compliance is found, bus operators and bus safety workers may be subject to enforcement action that ranges from fines and defect notices, to improvement and prohibition notices

Matter / Accredited bus operator / Registered bus operator / Bus operator -
not accredited
or registered / Total
Number of buses inspected / 154 / 31 / 5 / 190
Fire extinguisher not maintained in an operating condition / 47 / 18 / n/a / 65
No emergency management plan / 9 / n/a / n/a / 9
No carrying capacity signage / 30 / 0 / n/a / 30
Defective tyres / 2 / 1 / 0 / 3
Drivers’ licence / driver accreditation issues / 4 / 0 / 0 / 4
Work diary issues / 8 / 0 / 0 / 8
Improvement Notice / 0 / 0 / 1 / 1
Prohibition Notice / 0 / 0 / 4 / 4

Risk management and registered operators

The Bus Safety Actimposes a duty on all accredited and registered operators to ensure the safety of their services, so far as is reasonably practicable. This duty requires duty holders to eliminate or reduce risks to safety so far as is reasonably practicable.

When determining what is (or is not) reasonably practicable when managing risks, operators must consider the following issues:

a)The consequence that would result if a risk source eventuated

b)The likelihood of a risk source eventuating

c)What the duty holder knows, or ought reasonably to know, about a risk source and any ways of eliminating or reducing it

d)The availability and suitability of ways to eliminate a risk source, and

e)The cost of eliminating or reducing a risk source.

An operator’s ability to eliminate or reduce risks is highly unlikely to be effective unless the operator has documented its risk management processes. While the absence of documented processes is not necessarily evidence of non-compliance with this safety duty, it is very difficult to argue compliance with the safety duty without them.

It is therefore strongly recommended that all operators document their risk management processes.

If you have any questions about risk management, get in touch with your local TSV Bus Safety Compliance Officer.

Bus prosecution gathers pace

TSV is currently prosecuting a NSW operator for operating in Victoria without being accredited despite previously being warned.

It will be the first prosecution TSV has brought under the Bus Safety Act.

This prosecution serves as a reminder to the industry that TSV will use the full force of the law to take action against operators who do the wrong thing.

If you are aware of someone operating in breach of the BSA, report them to TSV.

Steering a worthy cause

Thanks to Ventura and Latrobe Valley Bus Lines, thousands of Australians requiring dialysis will now be able to take a holiday without missing life-saving treatments.

As part of the 'Big Red Kidney Bus Project', Ventura has donated a school bus and Latrobe Valley Bus Lines will be providing the drivers and the maintenance. A number of other bus industry participants have also donated money to this worthy cause.

The Big Red Kidney Bus (BRKB) willprovide mobile holiday dialysis, travelling to popular holiday spots where it will setup for six weeks at a time, staffed byMonash Health renal nurses and technicians.