SWT JSC(08)2nd

Draft Minutes 08/12-08/22

DRAFT Minutes of a meeting of Joint Safety Committee

held on Wednesday 4 June 2008 at Friars Bridge Court

present: Stewart Palmer Managing Director (chairman)

Jan Chaudhry Operations Director
Ian Johnston Customer Services Director
Fred Paine representing Engineering Director
Andrew Welsby Human Resources Director
Barbara Davenport Head of Employee Wellbeing
Martin Peakall Head of Operational Standards
Brian Cook Head of Safety and Environment
Graham Morris District Organiser (A.S.L.E.&F.)
Alan Martin Driver, Island Line (A.S.L.E.&F.)
Peter Gale Divisional Organiser (R.M.T.)
Bill Read Driver, Waterloo (R.M.T.)
Rickey Goodman RO2 Waterloo (R.M.T.)
John Walsh Customer Relations Officer (T.S.S.A)
Kevin Egan Regional Officer (Unite)
Andrew Edwards Legislation and Standards Manager
(secretary)

Apologies for absence were received from:

Mac Mackintosh Engineering Director
Martin Dye Company Council member (A.S.L.E.&F.)
Iain Anderson Divisional Secretary (T.S.S.A)

Item
JSC 08/12 The Committee welcomed the Divisional Organiser (R.M.T.) and the
Regional Officer (Unite) to the meeting for the first time. The
Regional Officer (Unite) informed the Committee that Mick Benfield,
the previous Amicus representative had passed away recently. The
Committee expressed its condolences.

JSC 08/13 The Committee noted the minutes of the last meeting, held on
12 March 2008.

JSC 08/14 The Committee reviewed progress against open items on the
actions tracking log.

(continued…)
Actions tracking log (continued)

2007-17

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The Driver, Waterloo (R.M.T.) commented on anecdotal reports from

Drivers that they were having to apply skin cream because cab-
cooling systems dried out their skin. The Head of Safety and
Environment and the Head of Occupational Health confirmed that
they have not received any reported problems of this nature.
The Driver, Island Line (A.S.L.E.&F.) confirmed the arrangements for
cab-cooling on Island Line were suitable and sufficient.

2007-33
The Driver, Waterloo (R.M.T.) asked about the arrangements for the
evacuation of the platforms at Waterloo in light of the temporary
hoardings at the London end of the platforms. The Head of Safety
and Environment confirmed that the new evacuation arrangements
retained the ability to evacuate people from the country end of the
station but that this would only be in exceptional circumstances.

2007-54
The District Organiser (A.S.L.E.&F.) commented that although he
accepted that the Working Time Directive made exemptions for
special case workers, he thought that there was scope for SWT to
voluntarily apply the requirements of the Directive where these
could be met through advance planning.

2008-03
The Driver, Waterloo (R.M.T.) commented that the water dispensers
in the stairwells at Waterloo regularly fail because of the heavy use
they receive. The Managing Director advised that if staff are aware
that the water dispensers have failed, they should report this
through their line manager.
ACTION (2008-009): Driver, Waterloo (RMT)

2008-05
The RMT Regional Organiser asked to see a copy of the
questionnaire used for the safety culture survey. The Legislation and
Standards Manager agreed to send the RMT Regional Organiser a
copy of the information presented to staff through Switch On which
includes a copy of the question set used in the survey.
ACTION (2008-010): Legislation and Standards
Manager

JSC 08/15 The Committee reviewed South West Trains’ safety performance
for Periods 12 and 13 2007/8 and for Period 1 2008/9. The Head of
Safety and Environment described the current trends for each
safety indicator.

(continued…)
Safety Performance (continued)
15.01 Layout of the performance report
The Head of Safety and Environment explained the change
made by RSSB to the use of Fatalities and Weighted Injuries

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and explained that we have set ourselves challenging

targets to improve our safety performance in 2008.

15.02 General trends in safety performance

The Committee noted the general improvement in
performance across most of the indicators in the pack.

15.03 No Lost Time Accidents

The Driver, Waterloo (R.M.T.) asked about the circumstances
of the incident on 5 April where a Driver complained about
fumes in the cab of a Class 158 unit. The Head of Safety
and Environment advised that the smell was caused by a
diesel fuel leak.

15.04 Management of Contractors

The Customer Relations Officer (T.S.S.A) asked whether any
action had been taken following the spate of scalding
incidents involving Rail Gourmet staff. The Head of Safety
and Environment confirmed that as a result of identifying
the trend, Rail Gourmet have inspected and replaced
defective valves on a number of urns. The Managing
Director commented that this is a good example of the
value of monitoring contractor performance in the Safety
and Environment Report.

15.05 Staff Assaults

The RO2 Waterloo (R.M.T.) asked whether any action had
been taken against the individual who assaulted an RPI at
Clapham Junction on 12 April. The Legislation and
Standards Manager agreed to speak to the Head of Security
and Crime Prevention to find out whether we were aware of
how the police were dealing with this incident.
ACTION (2008-011): Legislation and Standards
Manager

The Driver, Waterloo (R.M.T.) asked whether there was a

time limit on reporting assaults to the police. The consensus
of the Committee was that even if there is no legal time
limit, it is unlikely that the police will be able to take any
action if the assault is not reported promptly. The
Legislation and Standards Manager agreed to confirm the
legal position with the Head of Security and Crime
Prevention.
ACTION (2008-012): Legislation and Standards
Manager
The Customer Services Director briefed the Committee on
changes to Personal Security Groups which are now police
led with tasking based on local intelligence.
JSC 08/16 The Head of Safety and Environment updated the Committee on the
proposal to remove emergency hammers from SWT rolling
stock as described in Paper A. The Committee agreed the approach
outlined in the paper and asked the Head of Safety and

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Environment to produce a briefing paper to staff advising them of

the proposal.
ACTION (2008-013): Head of Safety and Environment

The Committee agreed that it was not necessary to make

passengers aware of the change and that the on train evacuation
notices do no need amendment.

JSC 08/17 The Legislation and Standards Manager updated Committee

members on progress with the proposal to extend unannounced
random alcohol and drugs screening, as described in Paper B.

The RO2 Waterloo (R.M.T.) asked whether Train Presentation staff at

Waterloo are covered by the proposal. The Legislation and
Standards Manager advised that it is not currently the intention to
include such staff but that he would confirm this position with the
Safety, Quality and Environment Manager at Wimbledon depot.
ACTION (2008-014): Safety and Environment Manager

The Regional Officer (Unite) asked to see a copy of the procedure

used by SWT to conduct unannounced random screening. The Head
of Occupational Health agreed to send through a copy of the
procedure.
ACTION (2008-015): Head of Occupational Health

JSC 08/18 The RO2 Waterloo (R.M.T.) asked for clarification on the company
process for the issue of safety footwear to staff. The Head of
Safety and Environment advised that we would only issue safety
shoes to staff if this is identified as a requirement by the relevant
task-based risk assessment.

The Head of Safety and Environment also clarified that there is no

requirement to issue PTS holders with safety footwear as the Rule
Book only requires suitable stout shoes when on or near the line.
The Managing Director also gave the example of Safety critical staff
such as signallers where the task based risk assessment would not
require the provision of safety footwear.

JSC 08/19 The Divisional Organiser, RMT asked how the company goes about
determining the need to provide personal protective equipment
to staff. The Head of Safety and Environment confirmed that we
will provide personal protective equipment where it is identified as
required by task risk assessment and we will brief staff on the
requirements to store and use the equipment correctly. The Head of
Safety and Environment also confirmed that personal protective
equipment is at the bottom of the hierarchy of risk controls and we
will seek to eliminate or otherwise mitigate the risk if this is
reasonably practicable.

JSC 08/20 The Divisional Organiser, RMT asked about the company position on
the provision of PTS training to station staff. The Head of

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Safety and Environment stated that the company view is that

providing PTS training to staff who are unlikely to have to go out on
track frequently could result in an increased risk and that the
company has clear instructions on how to deal with emergency
situations where individuals can go onto track without PTS in line
with Rule Book requirements. The Head of Safety and Environment
agreed to forward a copy of these arrangements to the Divisional
Organiser, (RMT).
ACTION (2008-016): Head of Safety and Environment

JSC 08/21 The Regional Organiser (Unite) asked whether SWT had seen any
rise in assaults or threats to staff in connection with the introduction
of the ban on smoking on stations and other public places that
came into force last year. The Legislation and Standards Manager
agreed to investigate and report back at the next meeting.
ACTION (2008-017): Legislation and Standards
Manager

JSC 08/22 The date of the next meeting of South West Trains’ Joint Safety
Committee is Wednesday 24 September 2008.

Please advise the Legislation and Standards Manager of any items

for inclusion on the agenda for this meeting by 5pm on Friday 12
September, including any supporting papers.

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