The situation at Trackside House: Stratford Market Depot Messroom has long been undesirable. It is over crowded and not good enough to cope with the large numbers of staff based there.
Following a recent inspection and the fact that even more staff are due to be has now made this issue intolerable and serious management action by facilities needs to take place.
Therefore the below advise is issued to our members with a reminder that staff have the right to refuse to work if they feel that they are in serious and imminent danger.
Dear Union Members
We have agreed not to condemn the locker room today and to resolve the outstanding issues with management over the next few days on the basis that all the “new” extra white lockers and benches restricting the emergency walk way are removed prior to any member being asked to use the room (ie before tonight’s shift)
This was agreed, and if it has not/ does not take place, we recommend staff do not access the room on the grounds of H&S
Following a routine inspection of the male locker room facilities a number of issues which have been identified and raised many times over a long period of time either remain or have become even more hazardous , We believe these are a substantial risk to our members health and safety.
This has almost lead to local Union H&S reps condemning the use of the male locker room on health and safety grounds.
Some of the substantial issues are listed below:
1: Benches/seating situated along the fire exit walk way restricting the width of the walk way and potentially obstructing staffs exit in an emergency
2: Benches/Seating could also possibly cause collision injuries if staff had to move quickly through the area in an emergency due to extreme reduction in space
3: Emergency exit signage isn’t visible from all areas of the locker room
4: Benches had been removed from the seating area running down the centre of the locker room and replaced with lockers, restricting the full use expected for comfortable changing in and out of work PPE
5: Width between lockers reduced to 800mm in some places making it impossible for staff to be able to change in and out of PPE safely and unobstructed and without contaminating the clean clothes of nearby colleagues
6: Width between lockers restricted when locker doors are open on both sides to between 000mm and 300mm reducing path ways to inaccessible and presenting a serious collision hazard
7: Access to windows for ventilation restricted or obstructed
These are just a few simple examples of the issues which have been brought to us by numerous members.
It is worth remembering that this is not a “legacy” building but a room originally created just a few years ago for Signal works and Track staff at that time, and as such should maintain high standards of welfare rather than the constant degradation of conditions that has taken place in those few short years.
There was also an incident raised (IRF) regarding the possible contamination of the male locker area, which is now being checked out by the hazardous materials unit (HMU)
We have also been working closely with management over the day and into the evening resolving some of the issues now and agreeing to talk further with a view to resolving all the issues asap.
We would also like to ask at this point if staff and members could please keep PPE in lockers or the drying room after each shift to help maintain good house keeping and free up space for people on shift to use accordingly.
If tools could be locked away in the appropriate areas and lockers.
Materials return to their rightful places and storage areas.