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Railway worker suspended after rescuing disabled woman

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talltim

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Not seen this posted here

The Telegraph said:
A railway worker who helped rescue a disabled woman after she fell onto a train line has been suspended over allegations his actions broke health and safety rules.

The man, who has not been named but is believed to be a security guard in his 60s, was one of four people who pulled the elderly wheelchair user to safety after she fell from the platform at Southend Central railway station in Essex.

They went on to the track and lifted the woman, who was strapped into her wheelchair, on to the platform just minutes before the next train was due to arrive in the station.

However c2c, the company which runs trains from Fenchurch Street in London to Southend, has chosen to suspend him.
A spokesman said: "We have strict rules regarding correct safety procedures and an employee has been suspended while our investigations into the incident continue."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...-suspended-after-rescuing-disabled-woman.html
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Flamingo

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Not enough detail to make an informed comment.

Not that that's going to stop lots of uninformed comments.

In your own time, carry on.
 

talltim

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My uninformed comment is that possibly management think he should have been trying to get trains stopped rather than going on the line. However I don't know that he didn't, or didn't arrange for another member of staff to do so.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Actually, the article just says suspended while investigations take place. All talk of disciplinary action is from passengers
 
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cjohnson

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According to the local rag the woman in question had a carer with her. It would be interesting to know how and why a passenger in a wheelchair can simply roll off the platform edge...
 

GB

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Actually, the article just says suspended while investigations take place. All talk of disciplinary action is from passengers

Is being suspended not a form of intial disciplinary action?
 

NSEFAN

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What would have been the "correct" thing to do in this situation? Presumably contact the signalman before going onto the line?
 

Tomnick

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The 'correct' thing to do, without knowing the exact circumstances, would be to contact the signalman to get trains stopped ("this is an emergency call") if necessary, then go about arranging protection to recover whatever's on the line. The first part's important if the person is in danger from trains, or the safety of the line is affected. Going onto the line to try to help without arranging protection first only puts the 'rescuer' in danger too, which usually just makes things worse - a concept that most of.the readers commenting on the DM story fail to grasp.

In this specific case, of course, we don't know exactly what's happened, so my general comments above might not be applicable.
 

maniacmartin

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The local rag has this quote from a c2c spokesman:
She was immediately assisted back on to the platform while our station staff contacted the signallers and called an ambulance.

This would imply that another member of staff was arranging for the train to be stopped whilst this was going on. Perhaps it's because that particular member of staff wasn't insured or trained to go on the line whereas other staff were?

I do think Health & Safety policies always seem to err too strongly on the side of caution. They always seem to prefer inaction to action, even if it action could prevent situations getting worse.
 

Tomnick

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Again not referring to this specific incident, the most sensible initial action is usually to get the job stopped. Would-be rescuers putting themselves in danger just gives the potential for there to be two or more casualties to deal with, rather than just one.
 

GodAtum

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It would be interesting to get more facts, whether or not c2C will publish anything is another matter.
 

Llanigraham

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The first rule of First Aid:
Do NOT put yourself into danger!

Until we know further details, all is speculation!
 

Domh245

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The fact that he was suspended but the other 3 weren't does suggest that he was in fact, at fault by doing it, quite possibly because he had not been trained properly, but he might also have jumped the gun in going down onto the track before he got the all clear. But this is only a speculation.
 

Flamingo

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According to the story, the other three were not Railway Employees...
 

cjohnson

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The fact that he was suspended but the other 3 weren't does suggest that he was in fact, at fault by doing it, quite possibly because he had not been trained properly, but he might also have jumped the gun in going down onto the track before he got the all clear. But this is only a speculation.

According to reports, the other three people who assisted were members of the public.

edit: beaten to it by a Flamingo
 

talltim

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Wonder if they will prosecute the three passengers for trespass...
 

ushawk

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Life imitating art?

Though the person of course could have stopped the wheelchair before the yellow line !!

There isnt enough facts to make a judgement, but if the line was still live then safety regulations have been broken and more lives were put at risk. Questions must be asked about the carer too as they clearly cant have been doing their job properly.
 

bengley

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Absolute crap from management as usual. He potentially saved someone's life. He put himself in danger, but was not hit by a train or electrocuted. Where is the problem?

During my training with LM I was told that I could go on the tracks in an extreme emergency and using my brain here, I would say this is an extreme emergency given the possibility for death or serious injury if a train were to run the passenger over.
 

Jonny

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If it's for not sending an "emergency - stop all trains" message to the signaller/box then that's one thing, which I suspect might be the case. Emphasis on might... and even if it is, the media aren't reporting the full facts though.
 

Tomnick

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Absolute crap from management as usual. He potentially saved someone's life. He put himself in danger, but was not hit by a train or electrocuted. Where is the problem?

During my training with LM I was told that I could go on the tracks in an extreme emergency and using my brain here, I would say this is an extreme emergency given the possibility for death or serious injury if a train were to run the passenger over.
Would you do that in preference to arranging for an emergency call? It's very foolish to put oneself in danger to attempt to effect a spontaneous rescue, and even more foolish to not make efforts to remove the potentially imminent danger.
 

Antman

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Absolute crap from management as usual. He potentially saved someone's life. He put himself in danger, but was not hit by a train or electrocuted. Where is the problem?

During my training with LM I was told that I could go on the tracks in an extreme emergency and using my brain here, I would say this is an extreme emergency given the possibility for death or serious injury if a train were to run the passenger over.


I can't argue with that and presumably those involved had a clear view and could see a train wasn't approaching?
 

Sleepy

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It was top story on BBC Look East tonight, expect C2C will now face a media firestorm !
 

blue sabre

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Is it not the case that it is procedure to suspend any one who goes trackside without the correct permission, regardless of the situation?
Bear in mind no disciplinary sanctions have been brought against the employee as of yet.
If they apply the same rules to every employee, then should there be the situation someone faces dismissal, they can't claim they are being discriminated against or treated in anyway other than their colleagues.
 

anthony263

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It is possible that this member of staff will be returned to duty pretty soon and perhaps C2C are just covering their backs by following the rule book.

Still I want to know how a wheelchair could suddenly just roll off the platform if there were passengers on the platforms why didnt someone rush to grab the wheelchair to stop it.


I think the RAIB will be investigating this as it does sound serious and with the whole media storm that is picking up with the RMT helping to fan the flames
 

MattRobinson

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Just been saying on Facebook about how he should have rung the signalman before going on the side of the track and basically faced an absolute sh*t-storm from people who have it in for Health and Safety.

Most noticeably, supposed railway enthusiasts.
 

IanD

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Absolute crap from management as usual.

Management following the correct procedure to ascertain what happened. Yeah, that's absolutely crap.

He potentially saved someone's life. He put himself in danger, but was not hit by a train or electrocuted. Where is the problem?

He potentially got himself killed, but hey, that's his choice.
 
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