Health and Safety

ASLEF organises in a highly regulated, safety critical industry. All our Members have to be intensively trained to very high standards. Safety therefore is paramount, both for the protection of the public and of our Members.

Since the privatisation of the railway industry, ASLEF is concerned that the fragmented nature of the industry has led to safety being compromised. The profit motive has lead to a reduction in driver training, for example. As a result of this reduction ASLEF is formulating a best practice driver training package that individual TOCs and FOCs will have to agree to or they will be in dispute with ASLEF. Another example is a reduction in on-going training in the form of safety briefing days. Six days per year were recommended in the Hidden report following the Clapham crash. ASLEF believes that quality, classroom based safety briefings are the most effective method of updating Drivers and other safety critical staff.

The lives of ASLEF members that have been lost in such tragedies as Paddington and Ufton Nervet and the lost lives of members of public in the avoidable accidents such as Hatfield and Potters Bar are lost because of the failings of the rail industry and not because of the actions or inactions of ASLEF members. These disasters highlight the need for a safety agenda that listens to the people and the workers who operate and use the systems because they are the in the best position to identify the problems.

We therefore call for a publicly owned, publicly accountable national railway, and London Underground.

HSE European Week - Resources for Safety Reps

European Health and Safety Week starts on 19 October 2009. The focus is on risk assessment for a second year. The TUC is not producing any specific materials this year as the HSE guide, which was produced last year, is still relevant. In addition the Wednesday of the week is National Inspection Day. The HSE has a number of pages on the week. These are at:

TPWS

The RSSB has made available through their website information on the TPWS Stratergy with an brief overview, board papers and slide presentations.

The link is: http://www.rssb.co.uk/safety/safety_strategies/TPWS%20Strategy.asp 

Back pain in the workplace - Better Backs Campaign

The Better Backs Campaign by the HSE finished on 31 March 2008. It has run over the last three years and resulted in an increasing awareness of how to tackle back pain and upper limb disorder at work.

HSE now wants to learn from the evaluation of the work they have done in this period.

In the meantime HSE is focussing on the prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD).

A dedicated page for Upper Limb Disorders (ULDs) is currently under construction.

OPSWEB

OPSWEB is the website of the rail industry's Operations Focus Group (OFG), the industry's body charged with leading the drive to reduce operational risk on the UK rail network.

OPSWEB is the successor to SPADWEB which was targeted at SPAD risk. The site has been broadened to cover the wider range of operational risk, providing more information on other issues, and not those solely connected with SPADS.

You will find descriptions of what particular operation risks are, some of the reasons why they occur and what the rail industry is doing to prevent them. Their website address is http://www.opsweb.co.uk/

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Online

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Online is a website dedicated to providing information and resources about OSA, a breathing disorder which is potentially life-threatening. The website includes information on symptoms, screening and treatment options and other educational materials. Click here to visit OSAonline.

Fatigue and Risk Index now available

The HSE Research Report Series RR446 - The development of a fatigue/risk index for shiftworkers is now available from the link below:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr446.htm

This report describes the work carried out to revise and update the HSE Fatigue Index (FI). Extensive changes have been made to the previous version, incorporating recent information relating to a variety of issues including cumulative fatigue, time of day, shift length, the effect of breaks and the recovery from a sequence of shifts. In addition, a review has been carried out of trends in risk related to shift work, and this has enabled the final version to incorporate two separate indices, one related to fatigue (the Fatigue Index) and the other to risk (the Risk Index). While the two indices are similar in many respects they diverge in others. The main differences are due to the different trends with respect to time of day in fatigue and risk. The index has been implemented in the form of a spreadsheet, the design of which has incorporated feedback from users of the previous index.