I attended a webinar last week hosted by the DIA with guests from the ICO. There were many interesting topics that cropped up specific to our work as driving instructors such as use of video recording devices inside and outside the car and handling of personal data of pupils.
What I found particularly interesting was the response that the ICO gave when a question was asked about the lawfulness of taking the temperature of pupils prior to a driving lesson. After lockdown 1, I fully subscribed to the DIA Covid "Toolbox" and implemented a strategy using their guidance as a template. The kinds of things that I did was keeping rear windows open, health screening questions prior to training, wearing facemasks, no heating air con, hourly disinfecting of the controls, no exchanging of items inside the car, storage of personal items in a clean plastic bag in the boot and yes, taking the temperature of pupils by using a contactless thermometer, regular deep clean of the car.
Every single customer complied. After a while, I started hearing about students in classrooms who were sitting shivering at their desk because the windows in schools also had to be open. I also developed over a period of about a week of driving with windows partially open, a really stiff neck that was creating a great deal of pain because as an instructor we need to be turning our head around a lot in a training session, not relying on pupils observations. My wearing a scarf to try and protect my neck had no effect as the damage had been done - I was in agony and hardly able to turn my head without triggering really sharp pain. There were a few evenings when I found myself providing training, and I looked at my pupils who were doing their best at driving when the temperature in the car was actually very cold. This all started to play on my mind.
I had prepared a set of 11 questions to ask pupils prior to training. I used to send this off to them by email, the day before training and ask them if there were any differences to the answers that they initially provided. It included things like the family circumstances at home regarding infection, shielding or isolation or test & trace. It asked about travel in higher risk areas in the UK or abroad. So when a customer had provided those answers initially, I would print it off and add it to the pupil record. I have strict processes in place regarding storage and retention of personal data as I have been registered with the ICO for many years.
But something wasn't quite sitting comfortably with me. I aired my concerns on a Facebook group for driving instructors. No-one, not one single person publicly supported my reservations about what we were doing. But I considered it too much. I thought it wasn't a dignified way to treat another person. The personal information being asked represented disclosing of medical facts which did not sit well with me, and on a more basic level, I didn't consider it proportionate to forcibly take someone's temperature - I'm a driving instructor, not a nurse! I say that because that is what was being enforced here; it may be indirect, but the implication is that IN ORDER for a customer to get a driving lesson, they must allow me to take their temperature.
So back to the ICO webinar, it was of no surprise to me that when asked about this very question of taking temperature, the reply did confirm that it was disproportionate and therefore illegal. The host interviewer was naturally rather taken aback by this reply because it directly flew in the face of what the DIA had advised its 10,000+ members across the UK. But even with some attempted justification by the host, the ICO were very clear, that there are less intrusive ways of vetting someone's health that does not involve the need for taking of temperature - it was a disproportionate action and illegal.
What can we all gain from this? My stance on these things is to consider how I would personally like to be treated if I were the one looking for driving training. If you are either a trainee instructor or already DVSA registered, I think this is not a bad idea to keep in mind while you offer your service. Granted, I am referring in this blog to the disproportionate actions of requesting sensitive medical data and taking of temperature, but honestly, it is just as applicable to the way we conduct our work on a daily basis. Last night I did a few hundred "ADI" theory questions online and included were the 'instructional techniques' questions. It does no harm at all reminding ourselves about the core principles of instructional technique because it serves as a reminder about how we should be interacting with pupils in an effective manner that maintains dignity, respect and decency.
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