TfL Ref: FOI-1382-2425 and FOI-1383-2425
Thank you again for copying your emails of 30th and 31st July 2024, to TfL’s Freedom of Information Team.
Your requests for recorded information have been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.
The safety of our staff and customers is always our top priority and London Underground is recognised as one of the safest metros around the world. However, we are never complacent, and continuously strive to reduce injuries.
Slips, trips and falls are the biggest cause of accidents on escalators, and we have been trialling and implementing a variety of ways to minimise these incidents and highlight risks and encourage safe use of escalators. These include encouraging customers to hold the handrail; walk or stand safely; be aware of the step or landing interface; and, where available, to use lifts when mobility impaired.
Further initiatives to minimise slips, trips and falls include blue footprints on the steps, hand prints on the handrails, contrasting colours to highlight the ‘comb’ between the moving steps and the landings, wording on step risers, new electronic displays, under-step lighting, escalator and lift floor signs, projections of staff members giving safety messages near escalators and frequent public address announcements.
Additionally, our safety campaigns, which run throughout the year, use posters in lifts, stations, as well as advertisements on the escalators across the network, to remind our customers of the risks of running on stairs and escalators. We continually monitor the effectiveness of our measures and campaigns in reducing accidents and adjust our approach accordingly.
We offer comprehensive help and support to people involved in, or affected by, a life-changing incident on our network via The Sarah Hope Line: https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/incident-support-service.
The answers to your questions that we’ve identified as falling under the FOI Act, are listed follows:
Q1: Has the presumed GSM had any legal or medical training?
We assume by ‘GMS’ you mean a member of Station staff or Station Manager. All London Underground Station staff receive First Aid training. This includes London Underground Customer Services assistants, who complete the one-day Emergency First Aid at Work training course as part of their development programme, in line with the First Aid at Work Regulations. Therefore, we have a large number of first aid trained staff across the London Underground network.
Q2: Has any training been undertaken by the GSM relating to dealing with Vulnerable Adults and their Carers.
London Underground staff have a duty of care to passengers to ensure their safety on the network and to ensure that they do not pose a risk to themselves or directly/indirectly to others on the network. They are briefed on how to support vulnerable customers and customers with additional needs.
Q3: Has the Station Staff had any training with regards to assisting Vulnerable Adults and their Carers.
As above.
Q4. I will require a more detailed report on the maintenance regime of Escalator No. 9 along with the stated tolerances.
Machines are serviced at three monthly intervals and the tolerances are checked at these intervals. Please find attached the last three maintenance sheets which show the checks that were undertaken as part of maintenance.
Tolerances are set by Section 1097 (Cat 1 standard) which defines the F45 criteria.
Q5. Along with technical evidence of Escalator No.9. to establish that they are safe to use as determined by HSE Statutory Regulations.
An engineer examined the escalator following your accident and found everything to be within the required tolerance.Please find the attached form that was completed following your accident.
All of the attachments are built into our maintenance regime which is built to comply with the relevant HSE legislation (https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/passenger-lifts.htm). The control equipment monitors the correlation between handrail and step band speed, which is closely continually monitored by independent speed monitoring devices. If the speed varies beyond defined limits, then the machine will trip and come to a controlled stop.
Q6. So I will required all evidence required by UK Laws, to fully establish that the escalator was safe for a Vulnerable Adult along with their carer to use safely.
As above.
Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has been removed from the attached documents, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Eva Hextall
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London