HomeFind schools using good safety practice

Find schools using good safety practice

The Ormiston Horizon Academy, Stoke-on-Trent

The Ormiston Horizon Academy believes that it is important to keep students and staff as safe as possible by choosing the right coach operator when organising a school trip. But how is this achieved? 

The Governors have recently approved a newly created Transport Policy. The Policy sets out the safety criteria which must be satisfied by prospective coach operators. 

In particular, the Policy recommends that coach operators are accredited by BUSK (Belt up School Kids) www.busk-uk.co.uk.

According to Pat Harris, Director of BUSK, Ormiston Horizon Academy is the first school in the UK to include this recommendation in their Transport Policy. This is a great step forward in terms of improving safety. It means that parents, carers, students and staff can be confident in the knowledge that all has been done behind the scenes to engage with accredited coach companies where possible. 

There are more than 100 companies that have been background checked by BUSK and accepted as members of Simple Safe and Benchmark status. These companies are members because they put passenger safety first.  This number is expected to grow to around 500 over the next two years. Coach operators signed up to Simply Safe and Benchmark have had to satisfy BUSK that they comply with legal requirements, meet the highest safety standards and are willing to go that extra mile to meet a customer’s expectations. Benchmark was introduced during BUSK’s 20^th anniversary in February this year is the first and only star rating scheme for the passenger transport industry. 

Huntington Fire Station help deliver important road safety training to pupils at Alne Primary School in Yorkshire during BUSK's School Transport Safety Week.  Working in conjunction with Stephensons Coaches of Easingwold, Bob Hoskins, Fire Station Manager demonstrated how safety belts needed to be worn so they offered the best protection during a road traffic collision and other tips on keeping safe whilst travelling to and from school each day and on school trips.

Thousands of children and young people travel by coach on a daily basis with many not wearing their safety belts.  Parents and schools can contact BUSK at any time for tips and ideas to get important safety messages across to pupils of all ages...after all, pupils would not get on a coach if the thoguht the brakes didnt work so why on earth do they then think it is ok to travel on a coach and not make use of their own personal break...yeap...thats their safety belt!

For more information for safety training in schools contact BUSK.