Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety (2016)

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16 Introduction The purpose of this project was to develop tools, strategies, and practices for improving bus operator workstation design and procurement in the U.S. public transit industry. The current APTA bus procurement guidelines acknowledge workstation ergonomics in the proposal rating considerations for vehicle structure, including “layout of the operator’s compartment . . . avail- able ergonomic information, and functional enhancements, including integration of electronic controls and minimizing the number of gauges and switches” (APTA 2013, 287). However, these guidelines do not address how to select the components that affect operator and vehicle safety into the whole of the physical workstation layout and how to integrate stakeholders during all procurement phases and throughout the bus life cycle. The transit agency employees and industry experts interviewed in this research felt that the procurement process needed to do more to incorporate bus operator workstation health and safety considerations. This chapter of TCRP Report 185 answers that need, defining an effective bus procurement process to enhance bus operator health and safety. The suggestions given in this chapter are based on current transit agency practice, industry expert insight, and the research and practice literature. The accompanying tools were produced to support the process described and improve bus operator workstation design through better industry-wide coordination. The research into the procurement process consisted of the following: • Interviews with transit agency managers and union officers. Interviews with representatives from 10 transit agencies addressed the structure, team make-up, and typical steps of their bus procurement activities as they related to bus operator health and safety. Respondents also provided examples of decision matrixes. A total of 17 people participated, with transit agency managers and union officers participating in five locations, managers participating in four locations, and the union officer participating in one location. • Interviews with industry experts. Interviews with four industry experts with experience in procurement, bus operator design and ergonomics, and worker-centered design addressed current and ideal practices for collaborative bus procurement. • A survey of transit unions. Local union officers representing bus operators at 26 transit agencies returned surveys about their members’ roles in bus procurement. Chapter 3 covers training for the bus operator workstation procurement team and targeted training for bus operators in ergonomics and workstation health and safety. The material presented in Chapters 2 and 3 is supplemented by detailed appendices and tools as described in Chapter 1, including Appendix D: Transit Agency Procurement and Bus Operator Work- station Considerations: Research Methods and Results; Appendix E: Industry Experts’ Per- spectives on Improving Bus Operator Workstation Design; Organization Tool 2: Bus Operator C H A P T E R 2 Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety

Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety 17 Workstation Procurement Team Training; and Organization Tool 3: Ergonomics Training for Bus Operators. Appendices D, E, and F are summarized in the Annex to Appendices published with this report. Complete, unedited content for these appendices is available from the TCRP Project C-22 webpage. Improving Bus Operator Workstation Design and Procurement Bus operator health and safety are not always considered as a distinct procurement issue. Moreover, workstation demands and safety concerns are ongoing and evolving. This occurs in part because ergonomic and health-related information comes in at all phases of the bus life cycle. Solving problems often demands an immediate response rather than one that can wait for new bus procurement. Concerns may arise after formal testing of the pilot buses is completed, as equipment is stressed to failure or as bus operator discomfort surfaces over time. For these reasons, the equipment changes that affect bus operator health and safety may not be well inte- grated into the procurement process. An unsystematic approach can make it harder to define improvements or identify the limitations of the vehicle in the next procurement cycle. This chapter integrates the information provided by transit agency, union, and industry expert sources to lay out steps for a systematic bus procurement process to improve bus operator health and safety. The most effective procurement team will encompass representation from a range of roles and experiences at the transit agency: maintenance staff, operations, engineering, safety, purchasing and procurement, upper management, and—at times—the board and the riding public. The size and purchasing needs of the transit agency will determine whether stakeholders are ongoing team members or targeted contributors. Most critically, the procurement process depends on the input and participation of bus operators. The suggested steps are consistent with other models for design and procurement, including those used by FHWA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and APTA. Tran- sit agency engineers are likely to be familiar with the FHWA Traditional Transportation Project Development Process, which defines systematic phases of project initiation; preliminary engi- neering; plans, specifications, and estimates; construction; and project closeout (FHWA 2007). Similarly, the industry experts’ recommendations correspond closely to the comprehensive prod- uct testing and selection stepwise process published by the CDC, shown in Figure 1 (CDC n.d.). Figure 1. Key steps in the CDC product evaluation process.

18 Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety Coordinating Industry-wide Action Strong transit agency procurement proposals reflect stakeholder input. The bus procurement process is also supported by broader industry-wide interaction, before, during, and after active procurement. Within the transit agency, hourly and management staff from maintenance, engi- neering, and operations understand how past procurement decisions affect day-to-day service delivery and the bottom line. They form the core of the procurement team. Their important roles are discussed in greater detail later in this chapter. Some of these transit agency stakeholders participate in an ongoing way, gathering information and communicating with counterparts in other transit agencies, with vendors, or with researchers. They may be members of the procurement team or provide the team with needed information. As illustrated in Figure 2, various people and organizations contribute to the development and procurement of the bus operator workstation through their interactions with the transit agency. Effective bus design and specification engages bus and parts manufacturers (A), other transit agen- cies (B), professional groups and government resources (C), and academic and government research partners (D). Communication goes both ways between the transit agency and the other partners. Many industry partners are already taking steps to improve bus procurement and can incor- porate the tools and recommendations of this report in their work. In particular, APTA has influenced industry practice, continually updating bus procurement guidelines and other sup- port materials as knowledge, policy, and technologies have developed. FTA also is coordinating efforts to improve bus procurement and vehicle safety. Academic partners at university-based transportation centers and schools of engineering and public health also support the analysis of the ergonomic, health, and safety attributes of the bus Involve Transit Agency Stakeholders A. Interface with Manufacturers & Suppliers B. Cooperate Among Transit Agencies C. Work with Transit Organizations D. Partner with Researchers Figure 2. Coordinating industry-wide action to improve bus operator workstation design.

Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety 19 operator workstation. Several of the transit agencies interviewed described working with aca- demic partners to select, test, or develop improved bus designs. Government research groups such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have made contribu- tions, and bus operators and their unions have relationships with researchers and vendors that can be a significant source of input to the entire process. Suggested practices in the four action areas that support coordinated industry-wide action to improve bus operator workstation design are described below, along with considerations and suggestions for achieving each target. Action Area A: Interface with Manufacturers and Suppliers Suggested Practice: Health and safety experience and concerns with equipment design, configura- tion, and installation are communicated to manufacturers of buses and other equipment, during and outside of the award process. Because manufacturer quotes may be higher for unusual or last-minute requests, early stake- holder involvement and communication with equipment suppliers are important. Bus operators contribute to the exchange by suggesting or designing solutions, both via their employers and at times directly to vendors. Bus operators often are the best people to canvas other bus operators, summarize results, and provide feedback to vendors at union and industry events. Action Area B: Cooperate Among Transit Agencies Suggested Practice: The transit agency cooperates with other agencies in procurement planning, specifications, and testing activities that enhance operator health and safety. Purchasing power can be leveraged through collaboration among transit agencies with similar concerns. Procurement teams already make use of existing channels of communication such as listservs, regional meetings, and informal contacts. Joint efforts by transit agencies could include developing a database of information on available and new technologies or updating the digital CAD model with lessons learned and with specific technology and bus operator workstation advancements. Cost savings could result from jointly engaging an engineering consulting firm to work on equipment design. The collective data could be used to produce shareable output, for example in the 3-D PDF model. To support communication among transit agencies, it is important for transit agencies to provide procurement team members with time and opportunity to share findings and problems at meetings and through electronic contacts. Bus operators can use union and individual chan- nels to share their concerns and findings, provide input on design steps, and—with employer support—attend APTA and other industry meetings. Action Area C: Work with Transit Organizations Suggested Practice: The transit agency shares findings and concerns from current and past pro- curement with trade organizations, with groups such as APTA’s Bus Safety Committee, with labor unions, and with FTA. National groups currently encourage transit agencies to participate in design steps and data sharing activities. Transit agencies may send representatives to participate in national meet- ings. Bus operators can help their transit agencies and their unions comment on relevant initia- tives, and can participate in appropriate planning meetings addressing bus operator workstation design and bus operator health and safety.

20 Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety Action Area D: Partner with Researchers Suggested Practice: Transit agencies collaborate with appropriate research partners to identify and resolve concerns. Academic institutions and transportation centers are sometimes recruited by transit agencies to develop and assess solutions for transit vehicle and service delivery concerns. These activities can be expanded to address bus operator workstation health and safety. For example, transit agencies can consult with NIOSH transportation research experts. Bus operators, as users, can participate in research projects, and can work with their international unions to initiate or par- ticipate in research and develop innovations. Developing a communication and resource network supports improvement of the available technologies and can make procuring buses that enhance operator health and safety more eco- nomical. Such a network can both depend on and support the comprehensive bus procurement process described in the next section. Suggested Bus Procurement Team Process This section organizes the research team’s recommendations for a bus procurement process that will improve bus operator workstation specifications for health and safety into four phases: • Phase I: Build and Support the Procurement Team; • Phase II: Prepare for Procurement; • Phase III: Specification, Request for Proposals (RFP), and Award; and • Phase IV: Complete the Build and Roll-out. Each phase is described in a section listing the suggested practices, discussing related issues, and detailing steps and considerations. As displayed in Figure 3, data collection and analysis, design and process tools, and training and communications channels are engaged in varying degrees in each phase. Figure 3 also includes suggested roles for manufacturers. The active procurement process takes place in sequential steps that involve a broad range of contributions from throughout the transit agency. These contributions are solicited and managed by the procurement team, whether it consists of one or two people or an extended committee. Phase I: Build and Support the Procurement Team Suggested Practices Overview • The transit agency procurement process engages stakeholders to address bus operator work- station health and safety. • The procurement team members are provided with training to understand and support bus operator health and safety. • Effective communication about bus operator workstation design and health and safety is maintained. The procurement process begins with identifying everyone who will be involved and defin- ing what their roles will be. The resulting procurement team can include representatives of any group that contributes to bus procurement. Among the transit agencies interviewed, procure- ment teams ranged from (a) a single maintenance manager and his technical staff, who called on others only as needed throughout the process, through (b) a few partners from procurement and technical departments, to (c) large, formally structured teams with subcommittees that targeted specified issues such as safety. Stakeholders that should either be on the procurement team or

BOHS = bus operator health and safety. Figure 3. Suggested procurement process for bus operator health and safety.

22 Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety be actively consulted by the team include the maintenance department, operations, purchasing and procurement, upper management, and transit agency boards. Transit agencies with larger committees may establish systems to make sure that the right stakeholder addresses each question. This interview excerpt from an agency that had a fairly large procurement team shows one way safety concerns can be addressed: The bus engineering group starts to design. [A]t each iteration, the engineering group sends it out to the stakeholders to review: the safety department, operations, training, maybe even infrastructure, all at the management level. The safety department makes sure that it’s compliant with all the pertinent safety and health regulations, and . . . the engineers have incorporated anything that we have seen in past designs that needs to be improved upon. Engineering decides whether or not it is possible or feasible to do those changes. . . . They bring [the prototype] on to the property and everybody gets the chance to touch it and feel it and sit in it. That is where the bus operators themselves come in, and their union representation would start to get involved. If the prototype is drivable, the instructor staff, the supervisors, put it through its paces, and discuss safety concerns (transit agency interview April 2015). Although, in this example, bus operators are not represented in the earlier stages, the indus- try experts and most transit agency respondents agreed that these end-users are underused as a resource. Bus operators can play three distinct roles that enhance health and safety in bus opera- tor workstation design and in bus procurement. They can • Serve as active members of the procurement team, • Participate in a targeted evaluation and problem-solving groups, and • Serve as employee-users in tests and trials, actively engaged in planning the evaluation and serving as test subjects. Training is essential for orienting the team to the details of the procurement process and pro- viding technical or operations knowledge they may not all share. Persons with specialized tech- nical knowledge or skills are often brought in to assist the procurement team as needed, either through others in the transit agency or via consultants, but problem assessment and decision- making are also enhanced if the team understands procurement fundamentals that affect bus operator health and safety. In particular, ergonomics, design concepts, blueprint reading, and product testing knowledge can be helpful. Detailed training modules that will support the transit agency procurement team are described in Chapter 3 and laid out in Organization Tool 2: Bus Operator Workstation Procurement Team Training (available online). The recruitment, training, and communication steps that build and support the procurement team are defined in detail in steps 1–3, along with considerations and suggestions for ensuring that bus operator health and safety are established as priorities in procurement. Step 1: Define Procurement Process and Recruit Stakeholders Suggested Practice: The transit agency procurement process engages stakeholders to address bus operator workstation health and safety. The ideal procurement team recruits representatives from bus operations, engineering, main- tenance, and safety departments. If they are not formal members of the team, these represen- tatives are called on to participate at relevant stages in the procurement process. The team is organized to raise and address questions of bus operator workstation design, ergonomics, and safety in a systematic way. Bus operators and the safety department are involved early in the procurement process to allow time for design and specification changes to be made without increasing costs. Not all stakeholders are needed at every meeting; however, the bus procure- ment process provides for sharing information and opinions between stakeholder groups, across departments, and between hourly and management-level participants. Schedules are adapted as needed to allow participation by stakeholders who are involved in service delivery. In particular,

Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety 23 bus operators—who can provide insight from their unique knowledge bases—are released from scheduled runs as needed to allow these stakeholders to contribute fully. Step 2: Prepare and Train Procurement Team and Stakeholders Suggested Practice: Stakeholders contributing to the procurement process (i.e., procurement team members) are provided with training to understand, analyze, and support bus operator health and safety. Presenting a core training module that explains the procurement process can help orient the procurement team members, especially new ones. Potential training topic areas include bus oper- ator workstation ergonomics and biomechanics, relevant design and engineering concepts, and health and safety regulations and guidelines. Effective training calls on internal skills and knowl- edge, with team members helping to develop or deliver training content. Informal learning from experienced team members and others strengthens the procurement process. Not every participant needs training in all skills, as long as resources are identified and made available for consultation, input, or presentations as needed. The procurement team can also learn from past experience, if institutional history is recorded and shared before experienced individuals leave the organization. Bus operators can serve as trainers, and can provide guidance to others about their job skills and demands. Step 3: Maintain Internal Communications Suggested Practice: Throughout the procurement process, effective communication about bus operator workstation and operator health and safety is maintained between the procurement team and executive, management, and line-level employees and their representatives. It is important for stakeholders to understand why their input is needed and what impact it has. Effective communication means that the results of assessments are shared and decisions are transparent to those who contribute information or opinions. Using multiple communication channels—print, email, meetings, and informal discussions—will facilitate information flow in all directions. Bus operators on the procurement team can assist with communications by reporting on the procurement process via union meetings or newsletters. They can bring infor- mation to the team and evaluate how well the results are communicated to others. Phase II: Prepare for Procurement Suggested Practices Overview • The procurement team systematically reviews past procurements for all items affecting work- station design and operator health and safety, engaging the safety team and operators. • The procurement team collects relevant information about bus operator workstation design and its impact on bus operators. • The transit agency maintains and refers to an information base of existing and developing technology and its impact on operator health and safety. • Potential changes are assessed for their impact on operator health, safety, and comfort through mock-ups and loaner equipment. The selected and trained procurement team starts by establishing a process and setting a sched- ule for dealing with bus operator workstation health and safety concerns. Many transit agencies use the previous procurement document as a template for the next procurement, highlighting problems or values. The engineers may complete an initial review, or the entire procurement team may evaluate it as a group or in breakout sections. The procurement team then incorpo- rates data collected from stakeholders and manufacturers about desired changes and available equipment.

24 Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety Assessing the health and safety impact of the existing fleet is usually coordinated by maintenance or technical services, often with input from the safety department. Line-level maintenance workers may be given an opportunity to mark up the procurement document during this phase or during specifications. Some safety issues are identified after review of maintenance and safety records. Although bus operators can recommend changes to new procurement and to existing buses, they often have a more prominent role in retrofit because of their practical experience with the current fleet. One small transit agency that was interviewed described engaging bus operators throughout the procurement process: There is a procurement panel, including three drivers who poll the other drivers. The panel reviews the options and results. At employee meetings, they go over the outcomes of the tests and surveys to ensure that everybody is aware of what choices were made and why (transit agency interview March 2015). Collecting qualitative data is as important as analyzing numbers. Surveys with room for open- ended responses may be harder to code, but they are better at eliciting new information than “Yes” or “No” or multiple-choice formats. Photos or drawings of the bus operator workstation can document where changes have occurred or if they may be needed. An outline of a human body (a body map) marked up by bus operators to show where they experience discomfort, fatigue, or pain can help target configuration and equipment problems. Such surveys and tools may elicit feedback on bus operators’ concerns that go beyond the immediate workstation area, such as steps, wheelchair securement, and room for lunch or personal objects. Surveys and other data collection methods are more likely to be treated seriously if bus operators are involved in their design, review, and distribution. Bus operators can participate by marking up bus operator workstation images with concerns or suggestions, and can co-chair needs assess- ment meetings as procurement team members or union representatives. The union may want to independently collect body map and survey results and other information about bus operator workstation concerns from coworkers and present the results to management. It is important to stay up to date about the availability of equipment, academic or industry equipment studies, or trials of new configurations. Doing so takes continuous research. Designated procurement team members can establish and maintain ongoing outreach to designers, manufac- turers, research groups, and other transit agencies. In steps 4–7 of the suggested procurement process, transit agencies review existing data and collect new information from internal stakeholders, from industry colleagues, and from manu- facturers. Data collection and decision-making will depend on the type and timing of the pro- curement cycle (e.g., whether the transit agency purchases through a consortium or individually, in 5-year contract periods or on a rolling basis). Transit agencies will need to adapt the practices to their size, resources, and procurement team structure. Step 4: Review Past Procurements Suggested Practice: Stakeholders (i.e., the procurement team) systematically review past procure- ments for all items affecting workstation design and operator health and safety, engaging the safety team and bus operators. The procurement team looks at existing information about the health and safety impact of prior bus procurement, including workers’ compensation and injury data, incident reports, and repair and replacement logs. Interim changes to the bus operator workstation configuration should be documented and evaluated, as should the original specifications. Informal and ad hoc adaptations made by bus operators commonly signal a problem with the design, and their model preferences can provide insight about workstation flaws and benefits. Bus operators gen- erate useful information over the lifetime of the vehicles, as they report health or safety events

Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety 25 they experience, share information and anecdotes about informal adaptations, report concerns with the existing fleet, and participate in reviews of procurement documents and safety reports. Step 5: Request Information—Internally and Externally Suggested Practice: The procurement team collects relevant internal and external information about bus operator workstation design and its impact on bus operators. The focus is on identifying bus operator health and safety (BOHS) concerns and impacts. Data should be collected, recorded, and analyzed in a timely and ongoing way to reflect current conditions and support procurement. Input channels include: • Email surveys and requests for information, • Paper surveys distributed to employees, • Shop-floor meetings to discuss the current fleet or propose changes, • Procurement team requests for information in safety committee meetings or other meetings, • Bus photographs or drawings annotated with interim or desired changes, • Body symptoms maps marked up by bus operators, and • Contacts with other transit agencies about their experience and suggestions. A matrix that documents problems, defines the item importance, lists solutions, and records the final decisions will help keep the process systematic and aid in reporting and follow-up. Effective data collection is designed to access the skills and experience of staff at all levels, based on the kind of information they have, time, literacy, and other considerations. Explaining decisions that are made based on the information encourages respondents to participate in generating the information. Step 6: Investigate New Technology Suggested Practice: The transit agency maintains and refers to an information base of existing and developing technology and its impact on operator health and safety. All stakeholders can contribute to the information critical to procurement, and the procure- ment team can call on different sources. Important sources include internal data, opinions, con- tacts with other transit agencies, professional literature, and discussions with vendors. Transit agency employees develop and maintain important knowledge and contacts when they partici- pate in industry events, listservs, and other discussions across the industry. Innovative sugges- tions and new technologies need to be investigated, and vetted for possible problems and vehicle compatibility issues. Bus operators are crucial partners for potential improvements. They can reach out through unions and other external contacts and evaluate the potential impact from the user’s perspective. Step 7: Test or Mock Up Changes Suggested Practice: Potential changes are assessed for their impacts on operator health, safety, and comfort through mock-ups and loaner equipment. Information provided should be tested and confirmed within the transit agency. Testing of suggested configurations needs to start early, before the RFP phase. The procurement team can request loans of equipment for installation, or visit neighboring transit agencies for demonstra- tions. Test periods need to be long enough and demanding enough to push the equipment to relevant limits. This phase can make use of design tools such as the Bus Operator Workstation Engineering CAD Model and the Bus Operator Workstation 3-D PDF Model. Indoor testing does not replace on-the-road experience, especially for issues such as glare or vibration that depends on the environment.

26 Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety This process can be time consuming. It is facilitated by bus operators who understand design and mechanical concepts and mechanics who understand driving. The transit agency employees, especially bus operators and maintenance staff, should participate in designing of mock-ups that can be built and tested in-house, and actively assist in testing. They should be consulted about planned changes and the validity of the test configuration and conditions, and can serve as live test subjects for changes (large and small, senior and new, male and female, etc.) Phase III: Specification, Request for Proposals (RFP), and Award Suggested Practices Overview • The procurement team engages manufacturers in active exchanges that help identify and resolve concerns related to health and safety before final specifications. • The RFP reflects stakeholder input to meaningfully address the areas affecting bus operator health and safety. • Changes proposed at any upper level, later changes, and manufacturer requests for deviations are assessed on the same terms as the procurement draft specifications and RFP. In this phase, the procurement team integrates findings from the data collection, review, and testing steps of phases I and II into a new or revised set of specifications. Design Tool 1: Bus Operator Workstation Feature Guideline (available online) will provide technical support for assessing and refining recommendations. The procurement team should discuss the poten- tial health and safety impact of available options with manufacturers and get demonstrations. Review teams should be aware that industry promotional demonstrations are typically positive, and procurement team members may tend to rate the proposed changes positively. It is best if the procurement team talks with a range of vendors and other sources, as a lack of information about alternatives can interfere with a balanced assessment of options. In completing the RFP, safety and health considerations will need to be matched with other technical requirements and assessed in the context of budget, board instructions, time con- straints, and cooperation across the organization. Conflict areas may occur in other areas of procurement, not just in the health and safety aspects. The review process will be iterative, as competing concerns push changes that do not take all issues into account. During the TCRP Project C-22 research, interview respondents voiced concerns about changes being made after the safety considerations had been addressed, when the proposal was assessed in the engineering or especially the budget arena. To avoid bidding and contractual violations, it is essential to clarify and agree on these issues before completing the RFP. In steps 8–10 of the procurement process, the procurement team engages manufactur- ers, upper management, and other stakeholders to make sure the final award best supports bus operator health and safety. Step 8: Define Options with All Manufacturers Suggested Practice: The procurement team engages manufacturers in active exchanges that help identify and resolve concerns related to health and safety before creating final specifications. Effective procurement teams both bring information to the manufacturers and receive infor- mation from them. The procurement team members working on bus operator health and safety interact with manufacturers whenever practical. Systematic lists of questions, checklists, and data summaries ensure that they provide all potential bidders with their concerns and obtain the information they need for decision-making. During demonstrations, the transit agency team holds on-site discussions about ergonomics concerns. Deviations from the RFP and the Bus Operator Workstation Feature Guideline are

Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety 27 recorded with explanations as to why the requirement could not be met or how the requirement was met with a different solution. Bus operators and maintenance workers can participate in factory visits. They also can help prepare checklists or questions to be addressed and assess the responses. Step 9: Draft Specifications and RFP (That Address BOHS Concerns) Suggested Practice: The procurement draft and RFP reflect stakeholder input to explicitly address the areas affecting bus operator health and safety. Comprehensive new bus procurement considers seating, steering, pedals, other controls, ingress and egress, passenger interaction (communication, assault, wheelchairs), roadway visibility (mirrors, glare, blind spots), farebox, personal storage space, and environmental controls. The proposed bus is be designed to fit bus operators ranging from the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile male working population in relevant dimensions, and also designed to be oper- ated reliably and safely with minimized physical demands. Core stakeholders, including safety department and bus operators and their representatives, participate in defining the terms of the RFP. The RFP references design tools such as the Bus Operator Workstation Feature Guideline and the Engineering CAD Model that accompany these recommendations. The procurement team may elect to consult people with ergonomics training or expertise, tran- sit agency staff if possible, or consultants from academia or business. The Engineering CAD Model or 3-D PDF Model can be used to test and demonstrate the fit of the proposed equipment to anthropometric variations in the agency’s bus operator population and potential future variations. Step 10: Review Changes Proposed Internally or by Manufacturers (for BOHS Impact) Suggested Practice: Changes proposed at any upper level, later changes, and manufacturers’ requests for deviations are assessed on the same terms as the procurement draft and RFP. Deviations may be proposed for economic or feasibility reasons. It is important that the reasons for the deviations be made clear and that the potential impacts on operators be assessed. Stake- holders with greater—or later—influence need to be held to the same standards as stakeholders who participated earlier in the procurement process. Changes requested later in the process may be harder to review properly in a timely way. Despite potential scheduling difficulties, it is important that core stakeholders, including bus operators, continue to participate in document reviews and alert the procurement team to any concerns they identify. Phase IV: Complete the Build and Roll-out Suggested Practices Overview: • The team continues to oversee the build process, test pilot buses, and systematically address changes to the bus operator workstation demands to improve the impact on the health and safety of operators and others. • Safety department staff and bus operators contribute to the evaluation of the fleet for issues that affect health and safety through the bus life cycle. Solutions are identified, implemented on existing buses, and recorded for future procurements. Health and safety concerns may become apparent as the bus is built or piloted. Having carried out careful testing and specification steps in the earlier phases, the procurement team needs to continue to pay the same attention to what happens in the factory, including how components are combined and how they wear. Bus operators commonly play a more active and skilled role during this phase than in earlier phases; but for many ergonomics concerns, this phase may be too

28 Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety late. To comply with procurement regulations and contractual obligations, substantive changes cannot easily be made after an award is granted. If needed changes are extensive or require input from the manufacturers, they may be referred to the procurement team. As discussed earlier, recording and analyzing any interim adaptations or repairs helps inform the next procurement cycle. Transit agencies can develop checklists simi- lar to those used for preventive maintenance inspections (Schiavone 2005) or workplace safety inspections. The pattern of problems observed and corrected by transit agencies can also contrib- ute to the industry discussions, as was illustrated in Figure 2. Steps 11 and 12 of the procurement process summarize how this work continues through the testing phase and the bus life cycle. Step 11: Monitor Bus Build Process and Test Pilot Buses Suggested Practice: The procurement team continues to oversee the build process, test the pilot buses, and systematically address changes needed to meet the ergonomic demands of the bus operator workstation to improve any impact on the health and safety of operators and others. Representative and extreme conditions are tested by bus operators, in time frames that reflect actual use. Improvements to the bus operator workstation design are made in response to find- ings. Some changes that arise during this step may affect other stakeholders, such as maintenance workers or bus passengers. Representatives of these stakeholder groups should continue to be involved to ensure that all perspectives are reflected in the procurement team’s decisions. Check- lists for assessing the workstation demands and equipment, along with systematic reporting formats, can increase the reliability and validity of the assessments. Both naïve and experienced bus operators will provide useful perspectives. As in earlier phases, bus operators can develop and use checklists, help define test routes and conditions, test drive prototype and pilot buses, and recommend improvements. Step 12: Evaluate and Correct Problems (Ongoing) Suggested Practice: Throughout the bus life cycle, the safety department and bus operators contrib- ute to the evaluation of the fleet for issues that affect health and safety. In-warranty and fleet defects and refit and retrofit solutions are identified and implemented on existing buses and documented for future procurements. APTA’s Standard Bus Procurement Guidelines (2013) recommend that procurement docu- ments include language stating: “The Agency may immediately declare a defect in design result- ing in a safety hazard to be a Fleet Defect.” To keep the cost of making changes down, bus operators and maintenance workers should be encouraged to report safety and health concerns about the workstation in a timely way, either directly to management or via joint labor-management or union safety committees. Retrofits and other changes should be documented throughout the bus life cycle and reviewed during the next procurement, using checklist or complaint systems. Bus body and workstation maps provide an additional analytic mode for reporting concerns and summarizing data, and may be more practical for some stakeholders. These data are more easily accessed if entered into databases on a rolling basis. Design and Procurement Summary The recommendations presented in this chapter reflect the input of transit agency staff, of labor union leaders who are themselves bus operators, and of industry experts. In contributing to the research, these interview and survey respondents shared diverse experience and perspec- tives on transit agency procurement practices, on vehicle design, and on workplace ergonomics

Bus Workstation Design and Procurement Process to Protect Operator Health and Safety 29 and health and safety. They agreed that effective procurement and an improved bus operator workstation require cooperation among stakeholders, careful data collection and analysis, and a timely focus on the demands of the bus operator’s work. Technical recommendations to support this process are defined in Design Tool 1: Bus Operator Workstation Feature Guideline, applied in the CAD tools, and explained in Chapters 4 and 5 of this report. Further transit agency insight and experience are detailed in Appendix D and Appendix E, which are available from the TCRP Project C-22 webpage. In addition to an improved procurement process, training is needed to make procurement teams and bus operators more knowledgeable about the vehicles they purchase and drive. The training recommendations laid out in Chapter 3 should contribute to a more effective procurement process that safeguards bus operator health and vehicle safety.