The new London Underground uniform has been found to breach an important safety requirement: there is metal in the soles of the shoes, meaning that they could conduct electricity when we access the track. Now LU is issuing 9,000 pairs of 'interim shoes' while it works on a long-term replacement.
Yet London Underground has told staff: 'it is safe to wear the shoes' while we wait for replacements. LU says we just have to check that the soles are not damaged before we go on the track. But what if the soles get damaged while we're walking the track?
We here at Tubeworker don't think it's worth running the risk of going anywhere near live track wearing conductive shoes. Often, to assist LU to keep its service moving, we don't exercise our right to insist that current is turned off when we go on the track. We need to insist that current is turned off now!
This debacle shows that LU prioritised cosmetic corporate re-branding far more than safety when it re-designed the new uniform.
