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More than 100 taxi drivers have been suspended for failing to take a "ridiculous" health and safety exam that teaches them how to lift heavy luggage. The stunned cabbies were slapped with the ban after refusing to sit a BTEC qualification in taxi driving. The course covers topics such as how to talk to customers, assessing their body language in the rear-view mirror and even "conflict management". Another part deals with how to lift a suitcase. This teaches the driver to "risk assess" before doing so by sizing up the shape of the load, the surrounding environment and their fitness level. Cabbies must attend eight, two-hour classes at college and are given three text books to help them to revise. But a large proportion of the cabbies in Bournemouth, Dorset, opted out after branding it "patronising common sense." Council officials have now suspended 101 licenses and they will only be given back if the drivers sign up to the tax-payer funded course within the next two months. One driver, who did not wish to be named, took the course over fear of losing his license but has branded it an "idiots test". He said: "I have been driving cabs for 20 years yet they are now trying to tell me how to do my job. "I admit that some of the information is useful, like how to react if you come across a serious accident, but the majority is just common sense. "It's an idiots course, it's ridiculous. "You are even told how to say hello to a customer and lift luggage - it's quite patronising really. "I took the exam and passed but I only did it because I didn't want my license taken off me as it's my livelihood. "I can't believe the council have suspended the 101 drivers who didn't - I honestly didn't think it would come to that." The BTEC in Transporting Passengers By Taxi and Private Hire was first brought in by exam board Edexcel in 2005 with the help of the Department for Transport affiliated organisation GoSkills. It is up to individual local authorities to adopt it as a requirement for all their drivers and Bournemouth Borough Council was one of the first. Their drivers were given until February 2008 to sit the exam and were told they would be suspended if they did not meet the deadline. They were handed the text books covering topics including licensing regulations, carriage of luggage, route planning, disability awareness and customer service. In the customer service book, drivers are told to revise a diagram about how to talk to passengers. It has three green speech bubbles with examples of greetings to say as a customer climbs into the vehicle, like "hello Mrs Smith", "nice to see you again" and "good morning, how are you?" Drivers are also told to learn how to read body language from their rear-view mirror. The book states: "Being able to recognise body language and facial expressions is essential when dealing with customers. "Are you able to recognise 'annoyance, anger, vagueness, humour, worry?" Drivers are also advised on "conflict management techniques" to help cool difficult situations with passengers and are recommended to remember five symbols to help them. They are a "wise owl" which symbolises teamwork and co-operation to achieve a solution, a "wily fox" which represents winning something while losing a little. The "soft teddy bear" approach appeases others by down-playing conflict, the "man-eating shark" represents the driver winning the argument or conflict while the "elderly turtle" approach means you walk away. Another book has a large section on "Carriage of Luggage and Parcels". There is a diagram showing a human-shaped model bending down to lift a box. Councillor Stephen Chappell, chairman of Bournemouth council's licensing board, said the BTEC is vital to ensure drivers are of a high standard. He said: "This qualification is vital to ensure our drivers are of a high standard and that residents and visitors receive the best possible service. "Bournemouth council was the first authority to adopt the course as a requirement for the town's taxi and private hire drivers. "Other's have now jumped on the band wagon and I understand the government are very much behind it. "We are proud to be an authority who is leading the way by providing our drivers with this training. "Almost 700 of our drivers have successfully qualified and should be congratulated on their achievement with a number of others currently training. "We have to take firm action against those drivers who have not trained." As well as the 700 drivers who have completed the course, another 200 have signed up to it while the rest have been suspended.
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