Health and safety

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).

The Euston fire, which has close parallels with the Kings Cross disaster in 1987 one stop up the line, was caused by mechanical friction in the closed chamber underneath an escalator igniting accumulated dust. The incident happened on the 6th July.

TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that it is preparing a ballot for action of all tube fleet maintenance staff following an announcement by London Underground that they plan to double the length of time between safety-critical train inspections from 14 days to 28 days.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “Hardly a day goes by now without TfL and LU getting caught out playing fast and loose with staff and passenger safety. These fortnightly inspections identify worn brake blocks, cracks in securing brackets and other distressed components. Moving these inspections to monthly is literally dicing with death in the interests of saving money.

AFTER MONTHS of accusing tube union RMT of scaremongering over the safety impact of cuts on London Underground, tube bosses this morning put their hands up and admitted that the cuts mean that services are running on dangerous and rotten infrastructure dating back to the 1920's with worse to come in terms of the risks to millions of passengers as the Government lines up further attacks on the TFL budget and the tube upgrade programme.

RMT underground members begin balloting today for strike action across the entire network over jobs and safety cuts.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

The new Health & Safety rep on the Wembley Central Group, Alan Foster has raised the issue of places of safety for staff on the gateline. On London Underground the standard place of safety is the GLAP. But when LU took over the control of the silver link stations north of Queens Park in 2007 none were put in. Management were quick enough off the mark to bring in gate lines to maximise revenue but the safety of the staff working the gate lines was deemed secondary.

The following resolution, submitted by Finsbury Park branch, was carried unanimously by the July meeting of the Regional Council ...

This region calls on the national union to hold a conference of all grades within the LTRC to discuss significant concerns our members have regarding the reduction and quality of our operational refresher training. We believe this is an attack on the value of our jobs and on safety.

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THE TRUTH IS COMING OUT

Many Train Operators expressed concerns over safety during the recent Tube Lines strike. A lot of drivers believed that safety standards were not up to scratch. Some drivers believed that they had been given assurances during previous similar situations, that had turned out not to be true.

Track Maintenance:

More than 50 drivers at Arnos Grove on the Piccadilly line refused to drive trains during the recent strike by Tubelines staff, despite a ferocious offensive by management to bully drivers onto trains. Local reps challenged management's claims that qualified Emergency Response Unit (ERU) staff were working normally and pointed out that LUL was refusing to provide our union with details of those alleged to be working and of their competencies and qualifications.

Read the full story by clicking on the attachment below.

From Steve Hedley, RMT Regional Organiser

Dear colleagues,

I wrote to Gerry Duffy, Director of Employee Relations yesterday because of serious safety concerns that have led many drivers to refuse to work on safety grounds. Amongst the drivers concerns are the absence of Emergency Response Unit staff who cover the whole network and signalling technicians who cover the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines.