XPost: uk.politics.misc, uk.media, uk.media.newspapers   
   XPost: alt.politics.british   
   From: banana@REMOVE_THIS.borve.demon.co.uk   
      
   In article <1133290303.272731.193610@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,   
   ib011f9545i@blueyonder.co.uk writes   
      
   >what is your experience of working on the main line railway?   
      
   None.   
      
   >I have  worked on it for 14 years so let me assure you that in general   
   >the rules are enforced   
      
   What does 'in general' mean? 90% of the time?   
      
   >and people get the sack,fined and have been   
   >jailed for coming to work drunk or on drugs.   
      
   Yes but there is no profit in letting people drive trains when they are   
   drugged up to the nines. Doing maintenance work on the cheap is another   
   matter.   
      
   >I do not work on the civil engineer/track part of the industry but I   
   >know people that do,Ken Loach's film about the track gangers was over   
   >the top at the time it was made   
      
   What, no cowboys? That's what the managers and any workers who take the   
   bosses' point of view would say. The other day I encountered someone   
   whose uncle worked in a nuclear power station and he was telling   
   everyone who'd listen that nuclear power was ultra-safe and that 'there   
   was no other way'.   
      
   Are workers' conditions and the service provided better too, on the   
   railways? Bad old days are over, then? :-)   
      
   >and since NetworkRail have taken over   
   >all the work it is 100 per cent out of date.   
      
   What do you mean by this unclear phrase? That no cowboys are involved   
   any more, and that all the rules regarding maintenance work are   
   followed, on all occasions, in both letter and spirit?   
      
   >I know that the general public think we are a bunch of idiots but we do   
   >work in a safety critical industry ,working under many overlapping   
   >safety rules,emforced by bodies other than our employers.   
      
   I wasn't calling anyone an idiot.   
      
   >Railway workers are, I am glad to say,subject to random drink and drugs   
   >tests and also can be tested after safety related incidents.   
   >These rules are part of the Transport and Works act   
      
   I'm sorry but what are you actually arguing - what's on paper, or what's   
   in reality? I'm sure that on paper all sorts of rules are 'in place', as   
   manager scum and press officers would say, to ensure the maximum   
   possible safety at all times.   
      
   >and cover people   
   >who are contractors and not just railway staff.   
   >We also have to have our work histories recorded and are subject to   
   >regular medicals,depending on what sort of work you do.   
   >Anybody working on the Underground would have to be briefed on the sub   
   >surface safety regulations which were re written after the Kings Cross   
   >Fire disaster in 1987,they would also have to be briefed on the   
   >confined spaces regulation.   
      
   'Would have to be', or 'are'?   
      
   >All this training would be recorded and certificates issued,the person   
   >would have to wear a identity badge with his photo on it.   
   >If you know of incidents where people are breaching these regulations   
   >you should tell the Health and Safety Executive,they have a website   
   >with contact details.   
      
      
      
   >The other issue is that obviously the trains move so how would you   
   >trigger the bombs to ensure a train was overhead?,and if you placed a   
   >bomb big enough to do damage on the track bed it would be seen by   
   >either bored passengers or underground staff and the trains would be   
   >stopped.   
      
   Special forces could obviously get round these trifling problems. Not   
   that this means the bombs were under the trains, of course. But the idea   
   that that would always be impossible is a complete non-starter.   
      
   --   
   banana     "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you   
               give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to   
               Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the   
               rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)