How the new Rule Book threatens stations jobs

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

Under the new Rule Book, Station Supervisors lose the following responsiblities:

  • giving the 'second right' (now called 'assisted despatch') to trains stopped part way out of a platform where there is working in-cab CCTV on which the driver can see the whole of the PTI, or where there are PED doors
  • isolating lifts/escalators/travs at close of traffic
  • carrying out pre-start checks in the machine room
  • carrying out pre-traffic checks of the lift communication equipment and emergency equipment
  • testing lifts for movement with the doors open, safe edge lift door testing, stop button tests
  • checking all worksites before start of traffic
  • checking PPE, drugs and alcohol and "many other checks" before allowing contractors to work on the station
  • three-hourly fire safety checks
  • being present for transferring passengers from a stalled train to an assisting train
  • supervising wrong direction movements

Some of these responsibilities have been scrapped, others have been passed to the infraco's site person in charge. It doesn't take a genius to see that further down this road lies the prospect of surface stations being left unsupervised, and SS night turns being scrapped with the infracos taking on the remaining SS responsibilities.

There are more rule changes that also threaten staffing levels:

  • allowing lift power-winding to be carried out by only one person
  • allowing medically-restricted staff to be counted towards minimmum staffing numbers

As we were saying ... The Rule Book is a major threat to stations jobs - already facing a cull in the ticket offices - and we must shape up to fight it.

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