Your Trains Health and Safety Council reps write ...

The recession bites as LU announces proposals to run trains without the need for station staff.

As LU announced jobs cuts for the station grades it was no coincidence that they simultaneously approached the Train’s Health and Safety Council (THSC) with what they called the ‘Operation Effectiveness Programme’ (OEP). If you are not yet familiar with this programme you better start asking questions because it proposes to change the role of the driver forever. And believe us, LU have not been lying awake at night and wondering how they can make the job better for you! Your roles and responsibilities will be drastically increased and in many case, we feel, safety will be compromised.

The first in a series of meetings was held last week and it didn’t go too well. Of the three proposals put to us we had objections to two of them.

Re-categorisation of platforms: at present, if you have defective (one person operation mirrors and monitors) OPO equipment at a Category ‘A’ platform, station staff is send to assist. This process works fine and it is safe; under LU’s new proposals, if the driver can see the whole full length of the train they are to self-dispatch without the assistance of station staff. The proposals are blatantly designed to run trains without the need for station staff. This is a job cuts charter!

Our first objection to the change is that it is simply not safer than the procedure we have at the moment. The change would require the driver to self-dispatch without a guard, without (mirrors and monitors) OPO equipment and without the assistance of station staff. The onus will all be on the driver. We will be the ones that lose our jobs when it all goes belly up! LU’s risk analysis of the change is seriously flawed also, in our opinion. They are assuming that drivers can always see everything on the platform: what if the platform is busy? What if visibility is poor? This change could seriously lead to people being dragged along the platform.

The THSC have rejected this proposed change and have referred the matter to LU Director’s level.

The '30 minutes with no trains' communication proposal is a real dog’s dinner! At present, if a driver has a stalled train and lost the use of their train’s radio they hold tight. We wait for the station staff cavalry to arrive with dragon lights and loud hailers all the other stuff required to detrain up to 1000 people for a train. Station staff that are familiar with the local area and all potential slips, trips and falls. This works a treat and this way it’s safe! Under the proposed new procedure the driver would wait 30 minutes then detrain themselves! Can you imagine what a fiasco that could turn out to be? The driver could be responsible for up to 1000 people. There could be passengers in wheel chairs, people with buggies etc.. You could have kids running down passage ways into oncoming trains; the driver might not even be familiar with that section of track. Needless to say, the THSC have not agreed to this proposed change either.

This was the first in a series of meetings planned to discuss the OEP. The THSC have just been sent the paperwork for another 5 changes that LU is proposing. These include drivers setting back into the platform after an over run, without the need to change ends; carrying passengers over shunt signals (despite people having died in the past trying this, remember Liverpool Street?); checking signal and carrying on after a (signal passed at danger )SPAD (how many drivers have lost their job in the past for this?). By the way, you will still get done for the SPAD!.

These changes will change the way we work and will in our opinion compromise safety and they therefore must be resisted at all costs. If you would like further information about these proposals contact your local safety rep who has been sent all the relevant paperwork, or contact a member of the THSC. We will keep all drivers fully updated on the status of all proposals.