Pete317 wrote:
It's hardly surprising to see Network Rail in there.
Before I retired ,I held the following qualifications on courses from NR
COSS( person in charge of site safety) -allowing me to take a party out onto live tracks ,anywhere in the country .(Practical limit was up to 125 MPH).Tested after a year , constantly assessed by supervisor ,and full re cert after two .
The number of times I ,and others in the group holding the same tickets have watched NR staff disregard every safety regulation whilst on track .
IF/WHEN HSS2 comes along , there will be a very real skills shortage on the rail network .Why -NR decided approx two years ago that the contracting firms were charging too much ,so they stopped awarding contracts .(Next bit is my own opinion) -when the tme came to award work ,firms could engage staff at lower pay -so contract cost to NR was less .
Perhaps a newspaper headline of some years ago when a major electrification project was undertaken without the correct staff -"NOWORK RAIL"-it shut the West Coast Main line down for an extra four days .
Now on a personal note -some years ago the firm I worked for was going through a rough patch and we were asked to perform security ( NR pays firm -our jobs are safe till next contract -makes sense ) .
One day ,I was sat in security hut ,when NR safety guys arrive .Being inside and only sticking my head outside ,my risk assessment was that this was OK.Not so -I needed steel toe caps /hard hat & Hi viz .
Got them on as boss arrived to calm things down .
Walked out to find pair of NR Safety guys in the middle of road , between the two massive steel gates which were wedged open, and wind was at least 30mph. They were too engrossed in conversation to see gates had lost wedges and had started to move --nice red faces when I bawled them out .My boss had some choice words for them too
Then perhaps the truth about NR - THE SENIOUR posts are contracted by some American organisation .(in the case mentioned above re NOWORK RAIL -the seniour consultant lost his job-he was American)