SWT JSC(08)2nd

Draft Minutes 08/12-08/22

δβχ
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

JSC2008(2nd meeting – June 2008) - Page 1 of 5 -

 SWT JSC(08)2nd
Draft Minutes 08/12-08/22

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)

JSC2008(2nd meeting – June 2008) - Page 2 of 5 -

 SWT JSC(08)2nd
Draft Minutes 08/12-08/22

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 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

JSC2008(2nd meeting – June 2008) - Page 3 of 5 -

 SWT JSC(08)2nd
Draft Minutes 08/12-08/22

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 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

JSC2008(2nd meeting – June 2008) - Page 4 of 5 -

 SWT JSC(08)2nd
Draft Minutes 08/12-08/22

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 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.

JSC2008(2nd meeting – June 2008) - Page 5 of 5 -