DIVISIONAL EXECUTIVE DIVISIONAL SECRETARY: Marc Marotta 0414 897 314 DIVISIONAL PRESIDENT: Terry Sheedy 0417 310 400 DIVISIONAL ASSIST. SECRETARY: Jim Chrysostomou 0404 814 141 DIVISIONAL VICE PRESIDENT: John Marotta 0414 864 702 DIVISIONAL DELEGATES Metropolitan Sub-division: Kevin Duggan 0404 811 589 Paris Jolly 0422 790 624 Pacific National Sub-division: Peter Laux 0417 526 544 Pacific National (ex Freight) Sub-division: James Styles 0427 018 963 Passenger Sub-division: Wayne Hicks 0407 035 282 MARCH 2013 LOCO LINES Conten ts LLOCOOCO LLINESINES EDITION 56 Marc Marotta—Loco Div Secretary 3 MAR 2013 Terry Sheedy—Branch / Div President 6 Loco Lines is published by the Locomotive Division of the Australian Rail, Tram & Bus John Marotta— Divisional V/P 7 Industry Union – Victorian Branch. See the bottom of this page for the Locomotive Division’s business address, V/ Line Pass OHS Report 12 telephone, e-mail and website details. Nelsons Column 14 Loco Lines is distributed free to all financial members of the Locomotive Division. Retired Enginemen also receive the Letters 20 magazine for free. It is made available to non-members at a cost of $20.00 per year. Cab Committee 22 Advertisements offering a specific benefit to Locomotive Signal Sighting Committee 23 Division members are published free of charge. Heritage groups are generally not charged for advertising or tour information. Off the Rails 25 Views or opinions expressed in published contributions to Loco Scholarships 25 Lines are not necessarily those of the Union Office. We also reserve the right to alter or delete text for legal or other Talkback from Hinch 26 purposes. Contributions are printed at the discretion of the publisher. Where Is It …? 28 Loco Lines, or any part thereof, cannot be reproduced or distributed without the written Membership application 36 consent of the Victorian Locomotive Division. RT&BU-LD Address: Level 6, 1 Elizabeth St, Publisher Melbourne Victoria 3000 Marc Marotta Toll Free: 1800 134 095 Fax: 9682 3344 E-mail: [email protected] RTBU LOCOMOTIVE DIVISION WEBSITE www.rtbuvicloco.com.au MARCH 2013 LOCO LINES 2 Locomotive stationary. There is a provision to move off a crossing or bridge to make the site safe. The driver is to be relieved and be subject Divisional to breath test which is mandatory for any safety irregularity. No one can take responsibility for the driver continuing on their journey after a S.P.A.D. occurs and drivers should be aware that Secretary Dwarfs, Auto and Home signals all carry the same severity if passed at Stop. March Marotta Should a S.P.A.D occur you are to carry the appropriate regulation, failure to do so can mean you could face grave repercussions. Some emerging trends that have become evident, S.P.A.Ds that defy what would be an understandable assumption, is that Signal Passed at Danger more S.P.A.Ds occur in winter because the track is wet and greasy. In fact the highest frequency of S.P.A.Ds occurs in the summer months and during school holidays. One possible One of the most fundamental influences on a train driver’s explanation is that drivers find it hard to sleep in these months working life are signals or in railway slang ‘a stick’. In years gone and children are on school holidays which may make it difficult bye it was rare to hear of a driver passing a signal at red and to sleep during the day and the driver’s concentration suffers which could be a costly experience. The unfortunate driver when at work. involved would be stood down and if the driver was proven to be at fault they would have been reduced in classification to The statistics gathered so far show that there is a 32% increase in either working in the work shops or to a shunt engine driver S.P.A.Ds during summer when compared with the winter which represented a significant reduction in wages for 6 to 12 months. months. The fact that this was news on the railway grape vine in times gone bye attests to the rarity of the event or perhaps the Another very interesting statistic was the highest incident of reporting regime that existed at the time. S.P.A.Ds occurs on Mondays and Tuesdays irrespective of the season. No credible theory as to why. Today a number of enterprises in the Victorian rail industry have adopted management procedures that go by various names, but A disturbing trend has been observed is the increase in S.P.A.Ds in affect they are Point Demerit Systems, a management tool that occur on platforms where a driver is waiting to depart and which attempts to assess the circumstances of the S.P.A.D then they depart against a red signal at the end of a platform. This is codify that into a penalty regime that may range from points lost not new in one sense. At the Sparks when there were guards on against your driving record or to summary dismissal in worst the suburban network, quite often the guard would signal two case scenarios. A lot depends on what actions are taken before bells to depart and the signal was against you. So as a driver you and after the S.P.A.D. event. soon disciplined yourself to pay attention to the signal and everything else comes after. There is a lesson in this for today. Any driver can misjudge a stop with a goods train, passenger train or electric suburban train. The contributing factors could Antidotal information from drivers at Metro is that they were include a wet and greasy rail or foreign matter on the rail. pressured to depart by platform announcements, people with S.P.A.Ds have been known to be caused by thousands of paddles, all manner of folk on platforms trying to hurry a driver millipedes on the rail that made the track slippery. It may be up. Evidence of this is Metro’s timetabling which make no time human error, mechanical failure, or maybe an individual affected provision for passengers to alight or board a train at Flinders St by prescription medication or worse. The worse scenario is that arrive and depart at the same time. Some Metro drivers a driver testing positive for illicit drugs or alcohol in their have confirmed they try and makeup time and depart before system which would lead to instant dismissal. timetabled departure time. The message for Driver’s in this situation is, you only depart when it is safe to do so, and never S.P.A.Ds have been increasing in the frequency in recent times. I ahead of time. Don’t hurry your routine irrespective of believe that part of the increase is due to the fact that nearly all distractions. There was an old saying that the most reliable safe the suburban system is recorded and Metrol has an alarm system working system in the rail ways is a cautious train driver. Don’t to alert them when a signal is passed at a stop. There has been a speed or cut corners to try and make up time. number of incidents involving drivers at V/Line and Metro where drivers have been encouraged to continue on their journey At the Met a staggering 37% of S.P.A.Ds are at platforms and these drivers make the mistaken assumption there were departing against the signal. It’s your job as Train Drivers to technical problems with the signal or that the S.P.A.D has been operate safely. Some organizations take this matter seriously and covered up which was perhaps the case in a bye gone era. not just pay lip service and attempt to be proactive. V/Line has produced a C.D. which emphasizes some simple work practices How wrong they are when the train has cleared the Metro area in an effort to reduce the frequency of S.P.A.Ds. Other or in some cases completed the journey to Flinders Street, the organizations have adopted different strategies to make their drivers have been stood aside pending investigation. The claim driver aware of pit falls on rushing or trying to make up time. No for not following their own procedure from Metro management driver comes to work to have a S.P.A.D and much of the train was they were not sure if the S.P.A.D. had occurred but Metro drivers performance is directly related to their mind set, don’t be becomes very sure about the incident when it’s convenient for influences by external distractions. Don’t worry about timetables them. to the detriment of the safe operating technics and remember caution is the most important attribute for a train driver. Members are referred to Safety Bulletin issued by Metro Safe No SWS-BUL 02 2012. After a S.P.A.D the train is to remain MARCH 2013 LOCO LINES 3 Modern Era Unionism - Fair Work Australia listing for hearing 21/1/13, Maurice Blackburn advice sought. The matter was resolved prior to the hearing. Mildura depot still open The Victorian Locomotive Division commenced a legal fund and member jobs have been saved. in 2011 to deal with the ever increasing trend of the Victorian • Locomotive Division v Metro Trains. Rail enterprises using specialized right wing labour law firms against the Union and its members. - Maurice Blackburn acted for the Division in the Federal Court application for Breach of Contract of The Locomotive Division has witnessed some of these our members at Metro in regards to the roster code foreign owned companies that are franchise holders of Public for drivers.