Health and safety

1) The principal safety legislation in the land, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Section 7) states:

The employee has a duty in:

“taking reasonable care for your own health & safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or don’t do”

2) Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended, employees have the right not to be dismissed, selected for redundancy or subjected to any detriment on the following grounds:

Following the suspension of safety reps (Jim Harrington and Clive Steadman's) email facilities on London Underground, the Stations & Revenue Safety Council has produced an open letter to all Health & Safety reps. Please click on the attachment to download a copy.

While Victoria line drivers are being sacked for safety breaches which would not even have occurred had the company fitted correct-side door enable equipment to its trains, it seems that managers can make safety-critical mistakes with impunity. An example of this took place on 7th May at Blackhorse Road station. At about 1700, both escalators failed. The Supervisor tried everything to get at least one of them restarted but without success.

To read reports on swine flu, how it affects you and what your union is doing to demand that your employer protect your safety, click here.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download the newsletter. Read the text below ...

HMRI have written to LU raising serious concerns about the safety of the Cross Track Projection system (XTP). The railway inspectorate has told LU what your safety reps have been telling them for the past 6 months: that XTP is a distraction to drivers and is just not safe! When this system was first consulted upon, CBS gave assurances to safety reps that the system would turn off before the train entered the platform. A catalogue of lies, excuses and U-turns later, we are in the position where by the projector stays on constantly in many locations. This, as we have told LU management many times, causes a serious distraction to the driver at a time when they should be concentrating on the PTI, the combine’s greatest risk. As our concerns have been ignored we can only assume that the revenue received outweighs any risk involved.

Please see the attachment for the latest newsletter from the Trains Safety Counil on XTP.

RMT press release, issued today ...

The RMT said today that the 24 hour strike on the Victoria Line, starting at 9pm this evening, is “rock solid” after management refused last minute talks to resolve the dispute over passenger door safety and the bullying and victimization of RMT members.

LUL confirmed in announcements to commuters at main terminals this morning that the Victoria Line will be closed down from tonight and RMT expects a knock on effect over health and safety concerns that will impact on the Picadilly Line.

Today, Victoria Line drivers are striking. One reason for this is that London Underground will not install safety equipment that stops doors opening on the wrong side of the train.

The safety implications are obvious. How often have you or your children been on a crowded train jammed against a door? If this door opens unexpectedly, you could be seriously injured or even killed.

The General Secretary of TSSA, Gerry Doherty, has written to inform the RMT of impending strike action by TSSA members in the BTP First Contact Centre and Force Control Rooms scheduled for 18th and 19th April 2009. Needless to say RMT members will do all that we can, within the law, to support our brothers and sisters at TSSA.