FIRST GROUP, INJURY PREVENTION AND SAFETY
Remember the sad loss of life in Croydon and what awaits us in the future FROM THE CONTINUED IGNORANCE OF FIRST GROUP MANAGEMENT.
The advert below is taken from the First Group website. The key statements for me are,
“Safety starts with us. We`re not satisfied until we`re certain its 100%”.
“and apply a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to unsafe acts and practices”.
“We are never complacent and continually strive to meet the highest possible standards of safety for our passengers and staff”.
“For example, our programme of Injury Prevention is not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry”.
“encourage good safety practices to embed the safety culture in all of our operations”.
I will show everyone exactly how they live up to these statements, indeed this website in every section makes a complete mockery of this propaganda. Mockery: - "an absurd misrepresentation or imitation of something".
ADVERT:
http://www.firstgroup.com/
Safety
"Safety starts with us. We're not satisfied until we're certain it's 100%"
The safety of our customers and employees is at the top of our agenda in everything we do – from working practices through to service delivery and beyond.
Our first priority
The safety and security of our passengers and staff is fundamental to everything that we do. We continually seek to improve the safety culture throughout our business and apply a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to unsafe acts and practices.
Over the past few years we have made great strides in improving our working practices and procedures and in monitoring our performance in this area.
We are never complacent and continually strive to meet the highest possible standards of safety for our passengers and staff. For example, our programme of Injury Prevention is not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry.
Injury Prevention has been rolled out across all of our operations and is designed to engage all our staff and encourage good safety practices to embed the safety culture in all of our operations.
The following is why what First Group say above is an absolute joke and that is being far too polite to them.
As Mark Atkinson being a Senior Manager, you would think that safety has to be his number one priority and if he is not 100% certain, then I am sure he would stop immediately any unsafe act. He would want the highest standard of safety for his staff and would never let complacency set in. By encouraging a culture of good safety practises, he would lead by example.
No32 below is taken from the witness statement of LIAR and Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson, it is the most unbelievable statement and tells me just how seriously he takes the First Group Injury Prevention Plan and makes a complete mockery of the First Group statement above.
32. There was a discussion as to whether or not the horn defect was a partial failure or a full failure. This was in reference to the fact that the 185 trains have two tones on their horns. If there is a partial failure, i.e. one of the horn tones fails but the other remains working, then the procedure for Drivers is to report the issue at the soonest convenience as there is always the possibility that the other horn would fail.
Firstly from this statement, there was no discussion whether or not the horn defect was a partial or a full failure, read the minutes of my hearing. Just another BLATANT LIE.
You have to ask yourself, if Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson really believes his statement above, (which he should as it was sworn on oath), then why hasn`t he done anything to stop his companies trains from running with a partial failure of the warning horn?
After all, the Rule Book says:-
37.3 When in service
b) Partial failure
If the warning horn becomes partially defective (for example, one
tone not working) on a train which is in service, you must:
• tell the train operator’s control at the first convenient opportunity
• carry out the instructions given. As shown in Part A section 2.10 of this module (TPE Contingency Plans).
And the Contingency Plans state:-
Under In Service Actions – Train may complete its journey.
So going back to Route Driver Manager LIAR Mark Atkinson`s statement NO32, he says that the Driver should report it at the, “soonest convenience”, the instructions state, “at the first convenient opportunity”.
Either way, when reported, as from procedures above, this train is allowed to run without any restrictions to its speed, and also allowed to complete its journey. It could have just left Newcastle but would be allowed to travel all the way to Liverpool under these procedures.
So imagine this scenario, I have just left Newcastle on my way to Liverpool, I use the warning horn and only the low tone works, so I ring control from my cab phone, control revert to the contingency plan and explain the train is to remain in service. This by the way is what happens every single time, TPE have never taken a train out of service with a partial failure of the warning horn and in some cases with a complete failure of the warning horn as my section, “Warning Horns (The Shocking Truth)”, shows.
But then the following happens:-
During this journey, it’s a cold damp day, like many days we have in this country. My speed builds up to 100mph, I enter an area of twists and turns, with many bridges spanning the railway, as I approach a left bend, I go under a bridge, suddenly not 1000ft away are a gang of track workers, I push the warning horn lever upwards, but get no response, (remember the train is still moving at 100mph, at that speed, you travel 150 feet per second), when I gets over the initial shock of no response if I don`t freeze, I press the lever down, again there is no response, (your still travelling at 100mph, 150 feet per second), what next?
I can only hope and pray that this never happens, not only would the relatives of the deceased be distraught but think of the driver and what impact it would have on him or her. Then spare a thought for the police, ambulance and anyone else who has to take the body away and clean the mess up.
Is it safe therefore to run a train where that scenario could happen? It may well be hypothetical, but in realistic terms, it could happen. Is it safe, NO it isn`t. Do TPE or Siemens take any notice? NO they don`t.
So as Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson points out, “as there is always the possibility that the other horn would fail”. The scenario I have explained above is always a possibility if you continue to run trains at line speed with a partial failure of a warning horn.
So could you be certain that it is 100% SAFE? I really don`t need to answer that question, do I?
Yet Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson thinks it is! And so do the rest of TPE Management and SIEMENS.
What ever happened to First Groups Injury Prevention Principles, supposedly not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry.
I CHALLENGE ROUTE DRIVER MANAGER MARK ATKINSON, ANY OTHER DRIVER RELATED MANAGER, ANY FIRST GROUP DIRECTOR, ANY MEMBER OF SIEMENS STAFF, TO EXPLAIN HOW MY ABOVE SCENARIO COULD NEVER HAPPEN.
BECAUSE ONE DAY IT WILL.
I AM WAITING FOR AN ANSWER.
BUT THEN AGAIN, THAT WOULD BE BREAKING THE HABIT OF A LIFETIME, ALTHOUGH PERHAPS A FIRST GROUP DIRECTOR MIGHT WISH TO ANSWER, AS I DOUBT VERY MUCH THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF HOW THIS MANAGEMENT AT TPE BEHAVES, UNLESS OF COURSE IGNORANCE IS RIFE THROUGHOUT FIRST GROUP? WHICH AS OF MAY 2014 THEIR IGNORANCE CONTINUES.
Their IGNORANCE is a major factor in the Croydon Tram Accident, if they had put their following statements into practice the accident was totally preventable.
“Safety starts with us. We`re not satisfied until we`re certain its 100%”.
“and apply a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to unsafe acts and practices”.
“We are never complacent and continually strive to meet the highest possible standards of safety for our passengers and staff”.
“For example, our programme of Injury Prevention is not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry”.
“encourage good safety practices to embed the safety culture in all of our operations”.
You decide - but my personal thoughts on this rabble of a management are everywhere on this website, my thoughts have never once been challenged BECAUSE I SPEAK THE TRUTH.
Remember the sad loss of life in Croydon and what awaits us in the future FROM THE CONTINUED IGNORANCE OF FIRST GROUP MANAGEMENT.
The advert below is taken from the First Group website. The key statements for me are,
“Safety starts with us. We`re not satisfied until we`re certain its 100%”.
“and apply a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to unsafe acts and practices”.
“We are never complacent and continually strive to meet the highest possible standards of safety for our passengers and staff”.
“For example, our programme of Injury Prevention is not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry”.
“encourage good safety practices to embed the safety culture in all of our operations”.
I will show everyone exactly how they live up to these statements, indeed this website in every section makes a complete mockery of this propaganda. Mockery: - "an absurd misrepresentation or imitation of something".
ADVERT:
http://www.firstgroup.com/
Safety
"Safety starts with us. We're not satisfied until we're certain it's 100%"
The safety of our customers and employees is at the top of our agenda in everything we do – from working practices through to service delivery and beyond.
Our first priority
The safety and security of our passengers and staff is fundamental to everything that we do. We continually seek to improve the safety culture throughout our business and apply a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to unsafe acts and practices.
Over the past few years we have made great strides in improving our working practices and procedures and in monitoring our performance in this area.
We are never complacent and continually strive to meet the highest possible standards of safety for our passengers and staff. For example, our programme of Injury Prevention is not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry.
Injury Prevention has been rolled out across all of our operations and is designed to engage all our staff and encourage good safety practices to embed the safety culture in all of our operations.
The following is why what First Group say above is an absolute joke and that is being far too polite to them.
As Mark Atkinson being a Senior Manager, you would think that safety has to be his number one priority and if he is not 100% certain, then I am sure he would stop immediately any unsafe act. He would want the highest standard of safety for his staff and would never let complacency set in. By encouraging a culture of good safety practises, he would lead by example.
No32 below is taken from the witness statement of LIAR and Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson, it is the most unbelievable statement and tells me just how seriously he takes the First Group Injury Prevention Plan and makes a complete mockery of the First Group statement above.
32. There was a discussion as to whether or not the horn defect was a partial failure or a full failure. This was in reference to the fact that the 185 trains have two tones on their horns. If there is a partial failure, i.e. one of the horn tones fails but the other remains working, then the procedure for Drivers is to report the issue at the soonest convenience as there is always the possibility that the other horn would fail.
Firstly from this statement, there was no discussion whether or not the horn defect was a partial or a full failure, read the minutes of my hearing. Just another BLATANT LIE.
You have to ask yourself, if Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson really believes his statement above, (which he should as it was sworn on oath), then why hasn`t he done anything to stop his companies trains from running with a partial failure of the warning horn?
After all, the Rule Book says:-
37.3 When in service
b) Partial failure
If the warning horn becomes partially defective (for example, one
tone not working) on a train which is in service, you must:
• tell the train operator’s control at the first convenient opportunity
• carry out the instructions given. As shown in Part A section 2.10 of this module (TPE Contingency Plans).
And the Contingency Plans state:-
Under In Service Actions – Train may complete its journey.
So going back to Route Driver Manager LIAR Mark Atkinson`s statement NO32, he says that the Driver should report it at the, “soonest convenience”, the instructions state, “at the first convenient opportunity”.
Either way, when reported, as from procedures above, this train is allowed to run without any restrictions to its speed, and also allowed to complete its journey. It could have just left Newcastle but would be allowed to travel all the way to Liverpool under these procedures.
So imagine this scenario, I have just left Newcastle on my way to Liverpool, I use the warning horn and only the low tone works, so I ring control from my cab phone, control revert to the contingency plan and explain the train is to remain in service. This by the way is what happens every single time, TPE have never taken a train out of service with a partial failure of the warning horn and in some cases with a complete failure of the warning horn as my section, “Warning Horns (The Shocking Truth)”, shows.
But then the following happens:-
During this journey, it’s a cold damp day, like many days we have in this country. My speed builds up to 100mph, I enter an area of twists and turns, with many bridges spanning the railway, as I approach a left bend, I go under a bridge, suddenly not 1000ft away are a gang of track workers, I push the warning horn lever upwards, but get no response, (remember the train is still moving at 100mph, at that speed, you travel 150 feet per second), when I gets over the initial shock of no response if I don`t freeze, I press the lever down, again there is no response, (your still travelling at 100mph, 150 feet per second), what next?
I can only hope and pray that this never happens, not only would the relatives of the deceased be distraught but think of the driver and what impact it would have on him or her. Then spare a thought for the police, ambulance and anyone else who has to take the body away and clean the mess up.
Is it safe therefore to run a train where that scenario could happen? It may well be hypothetical, but in realistic terms, it could happen. Is it safe, NO it isn`t. Do TPE or Siemens take any notice? NO they don`t.
So as Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson points out, “as there is always the possibility that the other horn would fail”. The scenario I have explained above is always a possibility if you continue to run trains at line speed with a partial failure of a warning horn.
So could you be certain that it is 100% SAFE? I really don`t need to answer that question, do I?
Yet Route Driver Manager Mark Atkinson thinks it is! And so do the rest of TPE Management and SIEMENS.
What ever happened to First Groups Injury Prevention Principles, supposedly not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry.
I CHALLENGE ROUTE DRIVER MANAGER MARK ATKINSON, ANY OTHER DRIVER RELATED MANAGER, ANY FIRST GROUP DIRECTOR, ANY MEMBER OF SIEMENS STAFF, TO EXPLAIN HOW MY ABOVE SCENARIO COULD NEVER HAPPEN.
BECAUSE ONE DAY IT WILL.
I AM WAITING FOR AN ANSWER.
BUT THEN AGAIN, THAT WOULD BE BREAKING THE HABIT OF A LIFETIME, ALTHOUGH PERHAPS A FIRST GROUP DIRECTOR MIGHT WISH TO ANSWER, AS I DOUBT VERY MUCH THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF HOW THIS MANAGEMENT AT TPE BEHAVES, UNLESS OF COURSE IGNORANCE IS RIFE THROUGHOUT FIRST GROUP? WHICH AS OF MAY 2014 THEIR IGNORANCE CONTINUES.
Their IGNORANCE is a major factor in the Croydon Tram Accident, if they had put their following statements into practice the accident was totally preventable.
“Safety starts with us. We`re not satisfied until we`re certain its 100%”.
“and apply a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to unsafe acts and practices”.
“We are never complacent and continually strive to meet the highest possible standards of safety for our passengers and staff”.
“For example, our programme of Injury Prevention is not only innovative but unprecedented in our industry”.
“encourage good safety practices to embed the safety culture in all of our operations”.
You decide - but my personal thoughts on this rabble of a management are everywhere on this website, my thoughts have never once been challenged BECAUSE I SPEAK THE TRUTH.