Ah yes health and safety 80s style

[Junctionmad]

[josefstadt]

He hasn't got his hi-viz jacket and safety footwear on!

Edited August 31, 2015 by josefstadt

[GSR 800]

wasnt Liam Neeson a signal man before he was an actor?

[jhb171achill]

And this man didn't die.

 

We've become a nation of cowards and claim chasers.

 

In a normal world, it would be OK for a railway worker to be on the track, equipped with common sense instead of endless certificates, day glo clothes, hard hats and steel capped boots. Sense is more efficient at preventing accidents.

 

And a judge would tell a person who slipped on the floor to go chase themselves and watch what they're doing more carefully in the future.

 

Any takers?

[GSR 800]

gone are the good days John

[jhb171achill]

Indeed, GSR....

 

Nobody ever needed a PTS course to drive "Maedb"!

[GSR 800]

They'd probably do it better than the PTS lad could ever do, you have to actually know what to do, not just on paper

[Mayner]

Having investigated spent the best part of the last 15 years investigating workplace accidents including several fatalities, I have found that common sense is not the most common of commodities as we are hard wired to take risks.

 

Trains cannot swerve if someone cocks big time and permits a train to enter an area under possession, a high vis just might draw a drivers attention to warn workers of an approaching train.

 

PTS certs and training has become more critical with the increasing number of contactors and casuals, with CTC and power signalling and multiple worksites there is probably a greater risk of control loosing track of possessions than during the era each section had a local ganger and control by a local signal box.

 

The behaviour of the Ballymena signal man is a symptom of the casual culture on the railways during that era that that lead to the like of Buttervant and Cherryville and Clapham Junctions disasters.

 

Was this the usual practice for exchanging tokens at Ballymena? Did the union raise the issue with management and ask for a platform for exchanging tokens or simply let sleeping dogs lie?

Edited September 1, 2015 by Mayner

[jhb171achill]

I remember seeing similar elsewhere - shunters and signalmen......

[Junctionmad]

And this man didn't die.

 

We've become a nation of cowards and claim chasers.

 

In a normal world, it would be OK for a railway worker to be on the track, equipped with common sense instead of endless certificates, day glo clothes, hard hats and steel capped boots. Sense is more efficient at preventing accidents.

 

And a judge would tell a person who slipped on the floor to go chase themselves and watch what they're doing more carefully in the future.

 

Any takers?

 

 

Actually, this is nonsense. The fact is that tolerance of work place deaths is the factor that has changed. In the 19th century , it was common for people to experience death and serious injury with little consequence for the company. Take sailing ships , it was common to loose crew on every ocean crossing , especially in winter .

 

Today , this is not regarded as socially acceptable ( nor is it to send boys up chimneys etc ) hence we live in ( correctly in my view ) a zero accident culture, especially in the workplace. In order to achieve that , lots of safety measures, training and additional procedures have to be introduced as humans are essentially perpetually careless

 

Sure, let's go back to the old days , as long as your not the one experiencing the workplace accidents of course !!!!:)

[Weshty]

If I didn't see that photo I'd hardly believe it.

 

I'm of the view that the Safety Elves have gone a tad overboard, but feckkit, that signalman craning out the window takes the biscuit!