Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide (2018)

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2 Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators: User Guide Chapter 3 provides a detailed listing of security countermeasures and strategies to combat operator assaults to support the decisionmaking risk management tools in the toolbox. Chapter 4 outlines an “incident-based” threat assessment response protocol and evalu- ation process based on effective practices found in transit agencies and literature review. It assists transit agencies in (1) identifying and reporting threats and threatening behavior, (2) conducting the threat assessment of specific incidents, and (3) managing specific threats of violence against individual transit operators. Key elements of the protocol and evaluation process include • Policy and standard operating procedures (SOPs), • Reporting process and procedures, • Threat assessment and response protocols, and • Follow-up and feedback procedures. Chapter 5 discusses the importance of reporting and tracking incidents as well as threats to provide data for use during hazard identification and the determination of risk control strategies. Methods for identifying and collecting data related to employee assaults both for internal risk analysis and for the FTA national trend analysis are included. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

3 Assaults against transit workers and operators are a significant concern in the transit industry. It is an unfortunate and all too frequent workplace occurrence that year after year transit employees in the United States have been killed or injured as the result of violent aggression by system users. Transit agencies as employers have a legal and ethical obligation to promote a work environment free from threats and violence. In addition, the agency can face economic loss as the result of violence due to lost work time, damaged employee morale and productivity, increased employee compensation payments, medical expenses, and possible lawsuits and liability costs. In addition to causing injuries and increased levels of stress for the operators and potential injury, assaults cause fear and a perception of lack of safety for the public, transit passengers, and transit workers. A reduction in the number and severity of assaults would provide corresponding economic benefits to an agency. Recent legislative activity surrounding this issue reinforces that managing operator assault risk is a priority for transit agencies around the country. Definition of Operator Assault The definition of operator assault is important to clarify. The National Transit Database (NTD) defines assault as “an unlawful attack by one person on another.” Assaults are categorized within NTD as personal security events, which are security events that occur to individuals on transit property. Reporting to law enforcement and the NTD is required for Part I and Part II assaults, including simple assaults, aggravated assaults, sexual assaults, and homicides. For Part II assaults, incidents that result in an arrest are reportable. The NTD definition does not provide a complete representation of all types of assaults (such as harassment, verbal abuse, and injuries that do not require transport from the scene). It captures those assaults that are more likely to result in physically or emotionally compromised or debilitating operator condition. TCRP Synthesis 93: Practices to Protect Bus Operators from Passenger Assault defined assault more broadly. A survey of transit agencies conducted as part of the research found verbal threats or intimidation to be the most common form of transit workplace violence, with spitting being the next most problematic. As pointed out in the study, defining threatening or intimidating behavior is not clear-cut. At times, it can be difficult to distinguish between behavior that ultimately threatens safety and those that are merely rude and obnoxious. A broader definition of operator assault is found in TCRP Synthesis 93: Overt physical and verbal acts of aggression by a passenger that interfere with the mission of a transit operator—to complete his or her scheduled run safely— and that adversely affect the safety of the operator and customers. Introduction Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.