Why Heat in Bus Cabs Is a Crisis Waiting to Happen — and What I’m Doing About It

🚍 As a bus driver with nearly two decades of experience, I’ve spent too many summers in dangerously hot bus cabs, sometimes with no working air conditioning, poor airflow, and no way to cool down.

When temperatures inside buses regularly climb above 39°C, this becomes more than just uncomfortable — it’s a risk to our health and public safety.

Like many of my colleagues, I’ve experienced symptoms of heat exhaustion while still driving. This is dangerous not just for drivers, but for passengers and other road users.

That’s why I’ve been campaigning for years — through union motions, conference debates, and now directly with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Last week I sent the letter below to the HSE asking them to include bus drivers in their review of workplace heat exposure and to introduce protections under health and safety legislation.

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📩 My Letter to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

14 August 2025

Dear Health and Safety Executive,

I’m contacting you as a concerned and experienced public transport worker with 19 years’ service as a bus driver in Nottingham. I’m writing in a personal capacity to raise the issue of intolerable and dangerous cab temperatures during heatwaves, and to request that bus drivers be included in any national guidance or policy review regarding working in extreme heat.

In recent summers, cab temperatures in buses — often without functioning air conditioning or adequate airflow — have soared beyond 39°C. Many drivers, including myself, report physical symptoms consistent with heat exhaustion, while remaining responsible for the safe operation of large public vehicles. This represents not just a personal risk, but a public safety concern.

While I’m not representing any organisation in this letter, I do serve as:

Branch Secretary of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Bus Branch (RMT), and

Secretary of the RMT's National Industrial Organising Conference of Bus Workers.

These positions have provided me with a deep understanding of the systemic challenges bus workers face, and I've used them to help shape national resolutions and Parliamentary submissions calling for urgent reform on these very issues. My branch has raised this issue at successive national conferences, with the most recent resolutions formally adopted in Torquay (2023) and Exeter (2025).

I would like to highlight the potential application of Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, where workers can remove themselves from dangerous working environments. In practice, invoking this right can result in short-term wage loss — but the principle is about imminent danger to health and safety. Where guidance is silent on risks like heat exposure in enclosed vehicles, employers have little incentive to act.

I respectfully request:

1. Explicit recognition of extreme heat risk for transport workers in forthcoming guidance.

2. Clear temperature-based thresholds for safe working inside vehicle cabs.

3. Guidelines mandating working cooling systems, hydration access, and welfare breaks.

4. Protection for workers invoking Section 44, including guidance to employers on respecting it in these contexts.

I’d be more than willing to contribute to any consultation the HSE undertakes on this topic. As the climate continues to change, so must our approach to keeping workers and the public safe.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Odams

Nottingham

Bus Driver (19 years’ service)

Branch Secretary, Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Bus Branch (RMT)

Secretary, National Industrial Organising Conference of Bus Workers (RMT)

(Submitted in a personal capacity)

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💥 Call to Action

If you're a bus driver, transport worker, union member or simply someone who cares about safe working conditions, here’s what you can do:

✅ Share this post with colleagues and friends

✅ Talk to your union reps about Section 44 and heatwave risk

✅ Contact your own MP and urge them to support protections for drivers

✅ Follow the updates here as we push for change at national level

We’re stronger when we act together — and this is a fight for safety, dignity, and respect.

📣 More to come.