50689 Lack of personal protective and cleaning equipment.

May 2012 in Train Operations

Equipment Knowledge Skills and experience Training and briefing West Midlands

Provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The reporter comments that Cleaners are not being provided with adequate PPE to protect them when cleaning human waste. At present Cleaners provide their own uniform; however, they do not have adequate boots, gloves, or face masks to perform these tasks. Additionally, Cleaners are not given the appropriate cleaning products or tools to clean such waste- for example, disinfectant and disposable bags.

Health and safety training knowledge. The reporter feels that Cleaning Staff also seem to be lacking basic health and safety knowledge. The reporter gives the example of staff standing on seats in order to clean overhead storage space. It is felt that this practice is unsafe as staff could fall or hit their heads on the lights above. In addition, when cleaning the trains externally, staff are hosing them down whilst standing underneath live overhead lines, putting them at risk of electrocution.

The reporter feels that due to a lack of health and safety training, Cleaners do not even have the basic health and safety knowledge required for working on the railway.

Could ISS Facilities Services comment on:

• The PPE and cleaning materials required by Cleaning Staff and ensure that these are provided?
• The health and safety training provided to Cleaning Staff and ensure all staff have a basic knowledge of health and safety in the workplace?

​Response from ISS Facility Services

ISS Facility Services would like to thank the reporter for raising their concerns. We welcome this opportunity to reiterate that we consider the safety of our employees to be of utmost importance.

In response to the reporter's specific concerns, a detailed review of the points raised confirms:

• All persons working at the depot are required to wear safety boots and high-visibility vests/jackets. Compliance to this rule is rigorously checked.  Additional task-specific PPE is detailed in the relevant risk assessments and is readily available to employees as and when required. This includes the provision of wellingtons, gauntlets, face visors and waterproof coats when cleaning human waste.  All items of PPE are issued free of charge and replaced when necessary.  In addition, during their induction training, all employees are made aware of the requirement to use all PPE as detailed in the risk assessments.  This requirement has been re-briefed to employees and additional checks implemented to ensure this requirement is followed at all times.
• It is mandatory for all persons working on the depot to undergo a depot induction, which details the basic health and safety controls in place. A competence quiz is employed to check understanding.  In addition, a health and safety handbook is issued to all employees and they are required to attend an induction training programme, which highlights the various health and safety aspects specific to the tasks they are to undertake, and the various control measures that must be followed.
• The cleaning products and equipment used are considered to be suitable for the various tasks undertaken.  In particular, reach tools, disinfectant and disposable bags are readily available and issued to employees as required.  The exterior cleaning of trains involves the washing off of cleaning chemicals, and controlled low pressure water hoses are utilised for exterior cleaning.  However, ISS are developing a brush type system as part of the ongoing development of cleaning activities.