Employee Director Forum/Xmas event

On Friday 21st October I attended the Employee Forum in London alongside 12 other EDs, 10 from First Bus and 2 Eds from our rail division. It's a real opportunity to air views to the Executive Leaders of our company. There are two forums a year and it is a chance to raise any questions that employees might have, via myself,  to the Directors of First Goup PLC.
It also paints a picture of where we are heading as a company and gives the Executive Directors a chance to question us on any concerns they have about how colleagues are being engaged and communicated to, within all our operating companies, making sure that colleagues are being treated fairly and consistently.
The meeting was chaired by Mick Barker who is the First Group Employee Director, at lunch we spent time with representatives of Prostate Cancer UK.  They are very keen to help all first colleagues with materials so if you are organizing or involved in a PCUK please contact me and I will point you in the right direction.
Secondly, with this in mind  I'm pushing and promoting some Christmas Jumper days; wear something seasonal event.  The full details will be released very soon. Last year, lots of colleagues got involved and it was a chance for us to really engage with our customers and raise some great cash for various charities.

 Lastly, I will be in Chelmsford  Depot On Friday 2nd December for a Collision task force meeting I am working hard on how we can report near misses. All the best ideas arise from the colleagues who do the job. Ideas such as, a report card, a book near signing on desks or perhaps an email address.  Small thoughts can always develop into great problem solving ideas. The most important aspect would be to get the problem solved before it becomes an incident.  I will also be in the canteen on Friday so if you have any Ideas on how to keep all our colleagues safe then please drop me a message or have a chat with me.

Get ready for winter the nights are drawing in

The clocks have now turned back and historically our driving conditions can be tougher as driving in the winter is very different than during other times of the year.  Adverse weather and longer periods of darkness  4 pm now!! makes driving more hazardous. Sometimes conditions can be extreme, as we have found out over recent winters, with prolonged periods of heavy rain and floods.

This means that we need to adapt the way we drive, and be one step ahead of the weather.

Different weather conditions create different hazards throughout the Winter and in different areas of the country at different times.  A single journey may take us into very different weather, road and traffic conditions, so we need to be prepared for each one.

The following tips may help you cope better with the various seasonal weather hazards. However, as we all know, many of these conditions can occur at any time of year:

Prepare yourself

•  Know your route, know your hot spots, know your hazards
• If raining, increase the gap 'leave yourself an out' slow down
• If foggy, do not tailgate and ensure lights are fully working
• If there are extreme strong winds, use  caution if buses are sent out, Canvey  winds from the Estuary can be noturious alongside Mersea island
• In low sunshine, make sure that your blind is in the correct position

• Beware of black ice, It’s nearly impossible to see this crystal-clear glaze, but you can spot it when your headlights reflect off the road at night. where the sun can't hit it  so you should slow down and report any spots to your supervisor who could alert others.

If I was going to summon up one message it would be "LEAVE AN OUT"  action this and you will keep yourself, your colleagues and your customers safe.