J Door Security

Yet again LU has put back the decision re improving the security of the J door. Having been told we would have the decision by March, we are now told the decision will be in May. It seems clear to us that they are just delaying the inevitable “no business case for it” announcement.

Meanwhile, there was yet another incursion into a driver’s cab, this time on the Central Line, when a passenger opened the J door and attempted to open the M door to walk down the track to Bank station.

Our District Organiser has written to Mark Wild asking for an urgent update on the issue as he will be preparing a report for the ASLEF Executive Committee.

Reduction in LUOH Services

LU have advised us that there will be a reduction in the number of counsellors from nine to five and the physiotherapy team from ten to eight. We made very clear to management that these drastic cuts are a false economy and are likely to lead to longer periods of staff sickness.

Excessive Track Noise

At a meeting with the Head of Line Operations we asked LU to put in place TSR’s in the areas where the Pandrol Vanguard rail fixing is present. LU will respond shortly. They have agreed to consider issuing ear defenders on the lines with Pandrol Vanguard; we have insisted that these are made available to all lines.

HOT Process

At a recent meeting with LU’s Head of Security we were told that the DfT have made it mandatory that staff look inside bags if there is nothing that can be deemed as suspicious. Yet again we asked for written evidence that the DfT have stipulated this, only to be told that they could not share this information with us. In the end we were shown guidance, but told that we could not take any pictures and not to record it or share with anyone!

Our EC member, Terry Wilkinson made it very clear that our drivers will not be delving into bags or forcing locks to discover whether it is suspicious or otherwise. Not for the first time LU are putting the needs of the service ahead of the safety of the driver.

Assisted Arrival

We asked that drivers who have stopped a train within platform limits due to issues on the platform causing them to emergency stop their train, be able to request ‘assisted arrival’ before fully berthing their train. LU would not agree to this and therefore we have referred this to a Directors level meeting.

Service Control

A senior Service Control Manager attended our quarterly H&S Council meeting last week. We raised the following issues:

 The lack of communication to drivers during incidents while far too much irrelevant information at other times.

 We asked that Service Controllers attend CDP with Train Operators to break down barriers between the two grades and improve understanding of the respective roles

 We also asked that Controllers and LIS’s undertake ‘cab experience’ days to get an idea of the driver’s environment and what they hear on the radio.

 We raised a couple of examples where drivers made valid requests or took appropriate actions for safety reasons, but were pressurised by the controller. We asked that Controllers avoid arguing with drivers on the radio and deal with the issue at an appropriate time.

This is just a summary of the many H&S issues your reps are dealing with across the combine. If you have any health and safety concerns or questions, please contact your local ASLEF H&S rep or the Tier 2 reps. Our contact details are here.