SAFETY IS NO DRAG
Preventing passengers having the wrong kind of ‘sliding door’ moments is the aim of a project involving teams across ARL
In the famous scene that gave the movie ‘Sliding Doors’ its name, Gwyneth Paltrow’s character boards an underground train by jamming open the doors with her arms.
It’s a scene repeated in countless films and TV shows, and is a dangerous and discouraged move when using trains, tubes and lifts.
That’s especially true with our Class 710s, as the doors don’t automatically reopen when something jams them.
With a number of recent so called “trap and drag” incidents, where passengers have caught themselves or belongings in train doors as they are about to pull away, colleagues across ARL have been looking at how to reduce the risk. As well as getting the message across to customers, the group has been looking at how our drivers and station colleagues can play an important role.
Paul Brewer, Head of Stations and lead of our PTI (platform and train interface) working group, explains: “Safety of passengers is our priority, so this is something we have always looked at. But with a number of incidents – not just on the Overground – there has been a renewed industry wide focus.
“It’s human instinct to see a train on the platform and want to get that one. Often people don’t even think about the danger or about waiting 5 or 10 minutes for the next train.”
There are two main areas of focus for the group – changing customer behaviour by raising awareness, and reviewing procedures to ensure ARL as an operator is doing everything it can to reduce the risk of incidents.
Raising awareness
As well as the usual range of station posters and automated announcements, the group has been looking at some more eye-catching ways of getting the safety message across to the public. These include adding a yellow and black ‘shark tooth’ pattern to the edges of the doors, while another idea is to ‘wrap’ an entire set of doors on each train with a transfer poster highlighting the risk areas.
Positioning of station posters has also been reviewed to ensure that these are in positions most likely to be seen by customers in the moments before they board. The aim is to create a ‘circuit break’ – designs and messages that are more striking than existing safety warnings, that customers may have tuned out from.
Digital screens on 710 trains will also carry special safety messaging which will also be displayed on some of our TVMs and digital posters.
On the platform itself, improvements are planned to the standard for the painted white and yellow lines to ensure they are clean and clearly visible to drivers.
Social media has a major role to play in reaching the public and raising awareness. For this reason, Samantha Ashman, a driver and health and safety rep for Chingford, has been working with TfL to create videos and a blog illustrating the dangers.
One of the videos provides a driver’s-eye view of a journey, including PTI procedures, while another video and the blog offer a checklist with safety tips for customers. These include the advice not to dash for a departing train but to wait for the next one.
The videos are being created for Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Leaflets with a similar message were also distributed at a series of ARL meet-the-manager events at stations, with more planned for 2023.
Crucial role
As the colleagues responsible for door operation, drivers play a crucial role in safety around PTI – and they can also be the most affected when things go wrong.
“Any kind of incident can have a quite substantial impact on drivers,” says PTI working group member Jason Tilley, a driver and H&S rep based at Watford Junction. “The last thing any driver wants to do when they come to work is harm anyone, so that’s another reason we need to ensure we are looking at all the risks.”
The concentration and skill required by drivers at each stop is acknowledged by the group, as Jason explains.
“The driver needs to stop the train in the correct place, release doors and then focus on the PTI. They make sure passengers are getting on and off safely, check the signal, check departure time, look at their monitors to check that everything is clear, and once it’s safe to do so they close the doors. They look again to make sure nothing is trapped or interfering with doors and then, if it’s safe, they’ll depart."
“That sounds quite straightforward but it all happens in the space of about 30 seconds, at peak times when the station is very busy. Repeat this dozens of times on each journey, every day, five or six times a week and you can see it calls for a lot of concentration.
“For that reason we have a standard set of procedures to follow to ensure safety, and we always review these to ensure we are doing everything we can to reduce the risk of an incident.”
Station colleagues also have a part to play.
“We are currently briefing our station teams and showing a video on how to stop a train in an emergency,” adds Paul. “This is crucial to ensure that we can tell the driver to stop should anyone get trapped in the doors or any other emergency situation.
“Where we have platform colleagues, roaming mics are used to remind customers not to rush and also to stand behind the yellow line.”
Constant review
Learning from close calls is also an important part of ongoing safety monitoring. It’s a free lesson that enables us to check that our processes are robust enough to prevent incidents.
When incidents do occur, and where appropriate, video footage is made available for colleagues to review via a QR code on depot noticeboards. This is backed up with ongoing training and regular briefings with driver managers and health and safety reps.
“We don’t wait for a discussion if there’s an incident, we are constantly reviewing,” says Paul. “And the public awareness work is ongoing. In London, people are very busy. They're moving fast and they swap between different modes of transport all the time. A culture change for customers is needed and that doesn’t happen overnight.”
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