Health and safety

From RMT General Secretary Bob Crow

On giving consideration to a resolution from London Transport Regional Council in which concerns were raised over the ability of the Office of Rail Regulation to carry out its statutory role as an independent safety regulator while at the same time being the economic regulator for the railway. The General Grades Committee have noted and adopted the following report from their Health and Safety Sub-committee:

TUBE UNION RMT demanded urgent answers from London Underground chiefs today over massive breaches of safety that enabled two trains to end up narrowly avoiding a head on collision on a section of the Northern Line on Monday evening.

That we note the latest correspondence on file following the announcement from Transport for London (TfL) to introduce Driver Only Operation (DOO) on the whole of the LOROL network. We note that at an initial meeting with the LOROL senior management held yesterday at Overground House and led by their Managing Director, our Lead Officer & our General Secretary both argued in line with RMT policy that this union is completely opposed to the scrapping of the Conductor Guard grades and the implementation of DOO.

We welcome the report from our Regional Organiser.

We note that LUL presented its three-month review of its detrainment procedure to our Trains Safety Council representatives on Monday 1 July. The company has made no progress in achieving a technical solution to minimising overcarries, and continues to deploy station staff as part of its detrainment procedure.

It is therefore clear that the work being carried out by station staff is permanent. It is thus no longer appropriate for this to be done by the Special Requirements Team; rostored station staff posts should be restored.

Attached is the May / June 2013 edition of CIRAS. Issues related to London Underground can be found on pages 11 to 13, and cover the following issues:

• Pit lamps at Bank station and
• Extended periods between rail vehicle examination checks

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow, wrote to the ORR following an incident in 2011 which resulted in the sacking, and subsequent reinstatement of James, due to the strong union response.The RMT complaint regarded firstly James’ alleged responsibility for the SPAD; and secondly, that James had been compelled to drive when unfit to do so. The letter below is the response.

You can read more about the case here.

The Letter

Dear Mr Crow

JAMES MASANGO

We are constantly looking for new ways to communicate our message to other workers, members and the public.

A branch of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) who represent transport workers in New York City have created a unique rap video urging passengers to stand back.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FkBhYMzyucQ

We note that London Underground Ltd dismissed Train Operator James Masango in 2011, before a strong response from this union achieved his reinstatement. We note that RMT complained to the Office of Rail Regulation: firstly, about James’ alleged responsibility for the SPAD; and secondly, that James had been compelled to drive when unfit to do so.

We note the report from HM Principal Inspector of Railways Keith Atkinson in response to our complaint, which found that:

• “the case of James Masango’s alleged SPAD does not appear to have been handled in the systematic manner I would have expected from LU”
• “there is undoubtedly room for more structured arrangement between managers and their staff for ensuring clear understanding of an individual’s fitness or otherwise to operate trains”

This EC decision regards 'electronic cigarettes'

We note the reply from London Underground Ltd extending the deadline for our comments to Monday 3 June. We also note the feedback received from branches and representatives.