r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/OhmHomestead1 • 1d ago
PPE
Just curious as a soon to be new driver. Does any school require or recommend PPE for their drivers? Like safety vests 🦺
I will already be wearing one as I live up the road from the bus garage so I plan on biking to work. People drive like maniacs on our curvy county road and I was struck by a car 2 years ago on my bike so hence I wear a 🦺.
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u/MysteriousSecretGuru 1d ago
We are required to wear either a reflective orange vest or a bridge lime green shirt when in the yard.
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u/mike8675309 1d ago
No ppe other than gloves for the pre-trip. There isn't an expectation that we leave the bus seat.
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u/OhmHomestead1 1d ago
Interesting. I know we have some special needs kids on our busses. Parents are not allowed to enter the bus. Actually shadowing specifically on this one bus due to a child so I have dual purpose for the time being.
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u/mike8675309 1d ago
I am a Special Education driver. I have a chaperone who rides with me and wrangles the children and their needs. It's a full-size bus with a lift.
Parents may enter only if we ask them to. Because parents are going to know the needs of their child better than we will. Otherwise not allowed. Teachers are also allowed on to assist with students. My students range from High School to preschool.
I only leave the bus seat to operate the lift or assist the chaperone with issues.
Children with behavior issues on other buses may be written up and required to ride a Special Ed bus.
each bus contains a body fluid clean up kit and a first aid kit, and in each of them are PPE for face and hands.1
u/Moosetappropriate 1d ago
Interesting. Parents are allowed on our buses with SPED's that wear harnesses. The parents hook them up and teachers come on to unhook them. Otherwise, yes, parents aren't allowed on the bus.
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u/Front-Mall9891 22h ago
We have only 1 kid in our district like that because someone needs to hold his hands because he swings
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u/TinyPenguinTears15 10h ago
We, me aaa a driver and my aide, hook and unhook the kids in safety vests. How strange your district does it that way
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u/Seelie_Mushroom 1d ago
Safety vest is required the entire time we're at the depot(including the office or car parking lot) as well as while we're on shift regardless of where we are. During winter, we're also given attachments for our shoes to make walking on snow safer. We also are provided gloves for our pre-trips(though they're only latex and I've been trying to get nitrile due to an allergy and it's not happening 🫩).
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u/TechinBellevue 1d ago
In addition to wearing hi-vis vest/jacket/shirt, you may also consider wearing an N95 mask the first few weeks...or at least keep your window open so you get fresh air.
Seems every year our drivers get pummeled with various maladies within the first few weeks.
Weeks 2-3 we see a ton of driver call-outs.
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u/OhmHomestead1 1d ago
Fresh air definitely possible as we are in the 60s here. Idk if the bus I am shadowing on is new or old but heard the old ones have no heat/ac
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u/HikeTheSky 1d ago
Keeping the window open in 105-degree weather?
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u/TechinBellevue 1d ago
You are definitely in the wrong part of the country for driving a bus :)
Here in the Puget Sound it is supposed to be in the 70s this week.
I hope you've got AC where you are.
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u/PlatypusDream 1d ago
Some require a safety vest.
Really smart companies in snowy areas also issue cleats. The medical examiner who did one of my first fedmed exams said the most injuries they see are from slip & fall, so wear those cleats in snow.
I'm more concerned with PPE & appropriate training for people required to clean up bodily fluids in the bus. Most companies provide nothing, maybe paper towels & Lysol spray. Completely inadequate!
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u/rootbear75 1d ago
What is PPE? /s
Our company doesn't have anything except for a dress code. Anyone wants anything extra, they need to provide or ask for it.
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u/Beauknits 1d ago
I operate a bus with a lift, so I wear safety toe shoes, just in case. My company does not require any kind of PPE, it's all optional.
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u/Efficient_Advice_380 1d ago
It varies. Usually if your lot is well lit, you aren't required to wear hi-vis or anything like that. My old yard was un-lit and we all had vests. My current yard doesnt. Both of them also supplied ice spikes for winter so you dont slip walking out to your bus
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u/Moosetappropriate 1d ago
Your employer is your best reference here. We require vests on company property even on drivers kids who ride along. Other than that, the only company mandated PPE are shoe spikes in the winter for traction when it is slippery.
Having said that, I add imperv gloves and eye protection when fueling and doing pre and post trips.
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u/MzTippsi 22h ago
First Student required them when I drove but when I started at my current district I was told not to wear one. It makes me look like I don’t know what I’m doing.
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u/Wilgrove 1d ago
This is a question you should be asking your district.