South Yorkshire

First to Raise Awareness on National Falls Awareness Day

Elderly bus passengers in South Yorkshire will be the centre of attention as First works with Help The Aged to help educate older people on how to avoid falls on buses.

This year the theme for Help the Aged's National Falls Awareness Day, on Tuesday June 23rd is 'Get on Board', an awareness raising campaign on the concerns of the elderly about falling when boarding or getting off the bus.

First, a company that works tirelessly on its safety issues, is leading the way in the bus industry to support the campaign. Teams of staff will travel on key bus routes in Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster on the run up to June 23rd to raise awareness into safety issues.

First staff will issue 'Safe Journey' cards which allow its elderly customers to privately show the driver they need assistance to sit down. Messages on the Safe Journey card like 'please wait for me to sit down' and 'please speak slowly' look to address the common concerns held by these customers when boarding and communicating with the driver.

Some 10,000 Safe Journey cards will be distributed across the UK, along with wallets and advisory information, supplied by Help the Aged, about staying steady on the bus.

Brandon Jones, Deputy Managing Director for First in South Yorkshire, said: "Safety is the number one priority for First and therefore we welcome the opportunity to work alongside some of our most affected passengers to ensure that important safety messages can be communicated successfully.
"Although such incidents are rare we are working hard to continue to reduce the number of passenger injuries through a number of initiatives based around driver training, customer information and bus stop infrastructure. This has led to an 18% reduction in passenger injuries last year (2008) compared to the previous year (2007).

"First staff have met with Help the Aged to discuss National Falls Awareness Day and they have listened to our views and have agreed that it is beneficial for all involved, especially the elderly, to work together to look for positive ways to improve the bus travel experience.

"To this end as well as issuing thousands of Safe Journey cards and wallets we will also be working with staff and other stakeholders to help raise awareness of the importance of safe travel.'

Download your Safe Journey Card today from:

www.firstgroup.com/safejourney