If a negligent municipal garbage truck driver causes a major accident, the city has the power to discipline the driver.

A demotion or termination are among the options.

But the city refuses or is unable to say how many drivers it disciplines each year, raising questions about a lack of public accountability in its system of managing poor-performing drivers.

Tim Houghton, deputy director of the Department of Environmental Services, which handles Oahu’s trash collection, said in written responses to Honolulu Star-Advertiser questions that the agency does not maintain statistics on the number of disciplined drivers.

Houghton said the department cannot disclose details related to ongoing investigations or pending grievances, which would cover most recent accidents.

And the agency cannot provide records of disciplinary actions before 2012 because "such records must be removed after two years pursuant to the applicable collective bargaining agreement," he wrote.

Yet restrictions regarding personnel information typically don’t preclude other agencies from tracking worker discipline numbers, which can be used to help gauge the effectiveness of training and discipline programs.

Responding to the newspaper, the city said it did not have the number of refuse-truck drivers disciplined from 2009 through 2013.

Asked how the city can assure the public that drivers are held accountable if their negligence leads to an injury or death, Houghton said each accident is thoroughly investigated and appropriate action is taken.

The purpose of the review policy is to continuously evaluate the city’s employees, training and equipment to reduce the occurrence of accidents, he said.

After an accident, a driver may be required to undergo additional training, have his or her driving privileges rescinded, or be reassigned, demoted or terminated.

The policy allows the city to reassign or demote an employee to a position that does not require driving if the worker is involved in a single serious action, according to Houghton. Drivers involved in accidents also must undergo counseling on how to avoid such incidents, he said.

Statistics on disciplined drivers are not the only data the city does not track. It also does not monitor the annual rate of avoidable accidents involving refuse trucks.