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St Pancras Walking Route
07.04.10
Requested by Southeastern Production Manager Gary Whitling to carry out review of an alternative walking route from the crew room to the platform concourse and make recommendations. Informed Perry Culvert of Company Council and requested all relevant information. I have compiled the following report of the walking route we took. This report will be sent to the relevant Southeastern staff and Ramsgate LDR’s with its presentation at the next High Speed Depots branch meetings.
Due to the unreliability of the network rail lifts that take staff to and from platforms eleven to thirteen and the lower level Southeastern PNB point an alternative walking route is required. I was informed by production managers of a possible three routes that could be taken but this review is for one of them that looks to be the quickest. Due to St Pancras recent redevelopment it complies to the latest rules and regulations and on my inspection I could see no problems regarding signage etc.
The route starts by exiting the lower level through a door next to the lift that takes you to platforms eleven and twelve. It should be noted that all doors lock behind you and cannot be opened unless the correct code is entered. Through this door takes you to a walk way leading you outside into the loading bay. This is used by lorries and vans to deliver food and goods for Eurostar and I assume Midlands railway. Walking through this area and around the corner you come to a barrier and security point. Staff maybe asked to show their ID to enter and exit this area. Walking out from here takes you to the main road where we took a left leading back up towards the station main entrance. The main concourse hotel building in day light could easily be seen and used as a guide to walk towards. We followed the footpath which after a short distance directed as left back under the station and long side the loading bay. The path has a barrier to stop pedestrians crossing the road. This took us to the other side of the station to a busy road junction with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Using two of these pedestrian crossings we continued our walk up the road towards the main station concourse entrance with the station to our right. Eventually we came to another pedestrian crossing that took us across the road to a door that allows you into the station by the escalators leading to the underground walkway and to the upper level of platforms eleven to thirteen.
The route was walked during the day time at about 1400 with good visibility and a relative few people in and around the area. Both the loading bay and main roads looked to be well let at night. To do a more accurate safety walk I would recommend re-evaluating the route at night to assess the lighting and danger level from the general public. This area of London has a reputation of prostitutes and high crime and could pose a risk to staff. This needs to be discussed and assurances given before being signed off. I also have concerns about staff walking through the loading bay area and I am unsure if this is legal in an official walking route.
Margate PNB Point
07.04.10
Requested by Southeastern Production Manager Gary Whitling to carry out review of Margate PNB point facilities and make recommendations. Informed Perry Culvert of Company Council and requested all relevant information. I have compiled the following report of each area that comprises the official PNB area. This report will be sent to the relevant Southeastern staff and Ramsgate LDR’s with its presentation at the next High Speed Depots branch meetings.
Entrance and Office Area:
• Flooring – Old and worn with trip hazard needs replacing.
• Equipment – Internal Phone, Monitors.
• Door – Coded lock
Flooring entering room originally made of thick door mat material now worn through to base material and so no longer preventing water and dirt entering PNB area. Trip hazard where this flooring meets the office carpet flooring when leaving building. Metal strip joining the two pieces of flooring together does not reach across the walkway. Area of carpet flooring used to gain access to PNB room and Kitchen worn and dirty but not currently providing a trip hazard.
Internal phone available with company computer to find train positions and delays. Monitor for train platform numbers and delays, CCTV of station. All intended for use and maintained by platform staff. Internal phone number is 0070422 and external number is 01233 651422.
Door has coded lock as standard on railway property. The door is kept open when platform staff are in the office as it used as an information point for customers. Door code is 13789.
Seating Area:
• New table needed - Current table is buckled and broken.
• More seating - Currently two chairs available which are old and dirty.
• Network point – Can we connect our laptops?
• Flooring – Old, dirty, and tatty. Needs replacing at some point.
• Large metal bracket – Screwed into wall next to current table.
• Fire Safety – Point of safety/meeting point.
The current table and chairs are replacements for the original equipment as sourced by platform staff. Current chairs and tables sourced from other locations across network where they where no longer needed. Do these table and chairs meet the relevant fire regulations to be permitted in a PNB point?
Gary Whitling requested me to connect my laptop the next time I was at this PNB point using the network points and cable found above the cupboard. If network points do work a new shorter cleaner cable will be required.
Flooring made up of small blue squares of carpet which are old and beginning to come away from the floor at their edges. It is very dirty with what appears water damage around the window area. There is also damage to the lower wall in this area which again appears to be water damage.
When questioning platform staff I was told the large metal bracket was fitting a dustbin to the wall. The bracket has hard to sharp edges that could cause injury if sitting at this part of the table. This needs to be removed and if required repairs made to the wall.
Requested map and with safety/meeting point clearly marked on it and instructions to be placed on wall with other notices instructing all staff where to go during an evacuation. Informed by platform staff during a bomb or fire alert that they ensure everyone is clear by safety sweeping all buildings.
Question: Can a designated PNB point be used by the company for other means? Currently the room is also used to house various folders, cupboards, and filing cabinets which the platform staff etc uses. Lost property is also kept here. Folders and plant kept on old shelves which look to be struggling with the weight; shelves at a sloping angle.
Fax number – 0070439
Kitchen:
• Cleaning – Currently staff are responsible.
• Drinking water – No filtered or chilled water.
• Soap and paper towels – No towels or electric hand dryer
• Floor – Broken, old, dirty, poorly repaired.
• Equipment – Toaster, Microwave, fridge, kettle.
All staff are instructed to clean up after themselves with platform staff responsible for cleaning the entire kitchen. Is this acceptable or are the company required to hire cleaners?
The only source of water is the tap at the sink. Gary Whitling agreed that a water filter and chiller is required especially with summer approaching. Told by platform staff the hot tap gets very hot, no warning sign as at Ramsgate depot.
Soap is in liquid form in a bottle as there is no hand soap dispenser. There are no paper towels or hand dryer. Told by platform staff their budget is not big enough to provide the current number of paper towels needed. This needs to be reviewed.
The floor is in poor condition and needs replacing. A large patch as been repaired using sticky tape but this is only a temporary solution. The poor condition aids in the collection of dirt and is hard to clean (when was it last cleaned?). Trip hazard entering and leaving kitchen area where kitchen flooring meets office flooring.
Basic equipment is available and clean to use at time of review. Platform staff reported no problems or concerns.
Staff Toilet:
There is only one staff toilet provided and this is for males only. To get to this toilet you have to walk through the customer male toilets to the far end where a key (from platform staff) is required to gain access. This toilet is used as a store cupboard for the cleaners and contains many cleaning products. Platform staff advised us not to use this toilet as you are likely to be attacked or abused by customers. They recommend using the training room toilets or the train. Female staff have no staff toilet and so female platform staff use the training room toilets.
Question: I feel the toilets in the training area rooms run by Ian Williams should be the only designated staff toilets. Am I right in thinking the current toilets do not meet the required standard both in safety and being used as storage space?
HEALTH AND SAFETY LAW . WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
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Families Against Corporate Killing
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Labour Leadership Challenger Dismisses Corporate Manslaughter Bill as cop-out and calls for backbench parliamentary campaign to force amendments
The House of Commons is today debating the first stage of the legislative process for the Government's Corporate Manslaughter Bill. This legislation was promised by Labour in opposition and has appeared in each of its election manifestos since 1997.
John McDonnell MP, challenger for the Labour leadership, who has campaigned for the Bill for a number of years said:
"After 9 years, two detailed consultations and a strong campaign within the Labour movement the Government is finally presenting a Bill to Parliament.
"The overwhelming view of the TUC and the campaigning organisations is that the current proposals in the Government's Bill are utterly ineffective and so weak that the CBI approvingly describes it as "sensible".
"This is an absolute cop-out. The Bill must be significantly amended if it is to be of any use in bringing corporate killers to justice and if it is to help prevent further deaths at work."
"The Government needs to takes note that the legislation in its present toothless form is unacceptable to the Labour movement and we shall be doing everything in our power to ensure that the Government fulfils the promise made in three election manifestos and to the trade union movement in the Warwick Agreement that we would legislate against corporate killing."
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Union anger at reduced fine for Hatfield firm - 5 Jul 2006
Keith Norman, the general secretary of train drivers union ASLEF said that there was ‘no justice’ in today’s decision by the Court of Appeal to reduce by a quarter the £10 million fine imposed on Balfour Beatty for its culpability in the October 2000 Hatfield rail crash.
‘How are the families of the four people who died or the 102 people injured supposed to feel about this decision?’ Keith demanded. ‘Many of these people will both physically and mentally carry scars for their entire lives.
‘In a more progressive country Balfour Beatty would have lost their licence to operate. The reduction in the fine is a poor reflection on our legal system when the price of human life is dealt with in this way. At ASLEF our thoughts today are with the families of the bereaved and injured who must feel grossly insulted by this decision.’
The company had admitted breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act – but argued that it should have its fine reduced because it pleaded guilty.
‘They pleaded guilty because everyone knew they were guilty,’ Keith said. ‘This was nothing moral or ethical about their admission: they were caught and deserve to pay for their crime.’
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