The 2018 MPTA Conference will feature a presentation by Charlotte DiBartolomeo, M.A.C.T., CEO of Red Kite Project, discussing best ways to address transit driver burnout and maintain a positive mental health environment for drivers. Charlotte has done conflict coaching with managers, developed and instructs curricula for workforce development and transformational leadership, and facilitates dialogue processes within both the public and private sectors.
DiBartolomeo, has been featured numerous times in Metro Magazine, including a January 2017 article about driver burnout and Professional Trauma Exposure (PTE). DiBartolomeo describes the environment that transit drivers work in everyday and the correlation between PTE and crash occurrences. Transit drivers experience a unique set of on the job challenges that requires a dedicated support structure and employer engagement.
Public transit drivers have the potential to experience a multitude of traumas throughout their careers. These experiences can be detrimental, not only to the drivers themselves, but to the entire organization they work for, and the riding public. DiBartolomeo explains Red Kite’s approach to training and minimizing the negative impact of PTE:
- Operator Education: Bus operators cannot defend themselves from PTE and dissociation if they are not aware of what it is and how susceptible they are to it. Trauma education addresses the following:
- Causes of PTE
- Identify symptoms of PTSD/PTE
- Best practices to resolve PTE symptoms
- Best practices to build greater resiliency for longer healthier careers
- Build more empathetic management and supervisor teams. After a traumatic event, “the first response by management is a heavily-weighted interaction, with long-term perpetuating consequences on the culture of the organization and the safety record of the driver.” – DiBartolomeo
- It is imperative that management is trained to handle this interaction appropriately.
- Check Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).
- Survey the workforce for EAP satisfaction.
- Does the program provide trauma informed care?
- Show Up for the front-line during good times and bad.
- It is important to engage the workforce year round.
- Leadership should respond immediately and authentically to requests for help and support.
- Creating a culture of support is essential to the fight against PTE.
Charlotte DiBartolomeo, M.A.C.T., CEO of Red Kite Project – DiBartolomeo, earned a Master’s in Conflict Transformation with a specialty in Intercultural Service, Leadership & Management from the School for International Training Graduate Institute in Vermont. She has studied post-war development in Sarajevo, Bosnia and has served as an NGO delegate to the United Nations at the 2003 Economics Conference for Women. She has trained in the transportation industry for eight years, presented at APTA’s Sustainability Conference in 2012 and has been published numerous times in Metro Magazine.
Make sure to register for the 2018 MPTA Conference! The schedule is packed with this and other great presentations and workshops you won’t want to miss!