Stations and Revenue Control Safety Council Staff side - General Update and Olympics Update - Sept 2011

General Update

Aftermath of Person under train incidents-storage of bodies

[from the Stations and Revenue Safety Council]

Wheelchair ramps. LU are looking at trialling the laying of wheelchair ramps to assist wheelchair users to board/alight trains at approximately 20 stations across the system in readiness for the Olympics. At present we (safety council reps) are in the process of commenting on the relevant safety documentation that LU have produced.... We have been advised our functional council industrial colleagues that at present there is no agreement for LU staff to lay these ramps on our platforms/ trains. At present we are advising local safety representatives not to take part in discussing or participating in local trials relating to this activity and/or take part in any workplace risk assessments.

A YEAR away from the London Olympics tube union RMT has raised staffing concerns again following a fire alert incident at Euston station just over a week ago.

TO ALL RMT MEMBERS AT LONDON UNDERGROUND

Dear Colleagues,

I write to advise members that all strike action that was due to commence next week has been suspended following talks with the company. All RMT Train Operators and Instructor Operators are instructed to work normally. A summary of the agreement reached is as follows: -

TO ALL RMT MEMBERS AT LONDON UNDERGROUND

Dear Colleagues,

I write to advise members that all strike action that was due to commence next week has been suspended following talks with the company. All RMT Train Operators and Instructor Operators are instructed to work normally. A summary of the agreement reached is as follows: -

The OSP safety review has made giant strides in the past few weeks. At the time of writing, all groups have completed their work, and all lines bar northern and central have had formal meetings with Local reps and Performance mangers. The responses from the performance managers are starting to come in.

Jennette Arnold, Labour member of the Greater London Assembly, asked the following questions to Mayor Boris Johnson in August 2010.

Underground safety (1)
Question No: 2735 / 2010
Jennette Arnold
Have the causes of the failure of the fire detection systems at Euston Station in July been investigated?

Answer from the Mayor

Safety Review of OSP Rosters

After talks at ACAS on Friday 17Th December, Attended by myself and Pat O'Brien we have an agreement on the basic way forward for looking at the safety issues with the proposed new rosters under the OSP.

Official circular from Bob Crow

It has been brought to my attention that local station managers have been instructed to carry out risk assessments in order to facilitate LUL’s plans to slash staffing levels. Tier 1 Local Health and Safety representatives will be asked to take part in risk assessments even though discussions are taking place at a higher level through ACAS on the same safety issues. Local grievances have been raised against these cuts which include safety objections but management have failed to deal with these grievances so far.

Click here for a useful guide to what the law says about stress at work.

TUBE UNION RMT today demanded a full external investigation into an escalator fire at Euston station four weeks ago where smoke detection systems failed and the station was only safely evacuated through the experience and vigilance of station-based staff. RMT have this morning referred the matter to the safety regulator the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

We who work on London Underground know just how finely a line is daily trod between organised chaos and unbridled chaos in the functioning of the transport system.

Tube Lines workers are set to strike from 19:00hrs on Wednesday 23 June through to 18:59hrs Friday 25 June. Tube Lines are responsible for crucial maintenance and engineering roles from lifts and escalators to signals and track - primarily, though not solely on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly Lines.

Importantly, Tube Lines are responsible for the Emergency Response Unit that covers the entire network and is fundamental to the safe running of London Underground. To ensure your own safety and that of others during the period of industrial action you are advised to approach your management prior to carrying out your duties for assurances that a safe system of work is in place.

1/ Fatigue Study.

This was commissioned by LUL after request by the ORR (Office of the Rail Regulator). This is going to be looking at getting better rosters to stop fatigue and the ill health effects of fatigue, and this will be ongoing throughout the company.

2/ Change Assurance Plans

on Thursday 6th of May @ 1400hrs the S. O. S. campaign will leaflet the public at Elephant & Castle station.

RMT will be appearing outside various stations over the coming weeks, giving out leaflets and collecting signatures. Keep checking back to this website for dates and details - and join us if you can!

Easthammer 6 is now out a totally different format because I was bored and decided to make it into a 4 page booklet when printed. I would still like input from other Reps in the Branch as I only know whats going on at my group. This is now an 8 page version although it may go back to four for other editions but I thought I would include a Centre fold poster (No not that kind)

In December, RMT revealed plans by London Underground management to close 144 ticket offices with the loss of 1,200 jobs. Your union can now reveal the company’s latest attempt to cut jobs: in a leaked report headed ‘Minimum Staffing Levels’, management plan to reduce station staffing numbers to a bare minimum.

London Underground has decided that all additional station staff duties required by project work must be covered by the Special Requirements Team - even where there are existing project CSAs at that location. As a result, those staff face being forced to move away to a work location where they do not want to work, and will be replaced by people who are not nearly as familiar with the station.

The station which this will affect immediately is Bank/Monument, which has just completed phase 1 of its project work but still has several more phases to go, and will not be completed for several years. As ‘On The Move’ recently pointed out, the Bank/Monument complex is the largest underground railway station in Europe. There are already serious concerns about staffing levels, assaults and evacuation times on the station, and replacing staff who are familiar with the running of the station and well-versed in evacuation procedures can only make these problems worse.