27.09.12
Multi-sponsorship of track workers criticised at NSARE conference
NSARE chief executive Gil Howarth has said multi-sponsorship of track workers should end, despite concerns from some of the organisation’s members that this could affect workers’ income.
Speaking at NSARE’s Training Matters conference in Derby today, Howarth said: “I see no reason for it whatsoever. I would say that multi-sponsorship should not be in our industry.”
Elaine Clark, NSARE's head of process development, said there is a perception that it creates more problems than it solves and said that it is being looked at by Network Rail.
Some organisations questioned the need to end multi-sponsorship however, saying that rail track maintenance and engineering is a unique industry and very much not a 9-5 job, thanks to the way possession windows work. Without it, workers’ ability to earn an income could be harmed, they argued.
Howarth said better planning was needed and was coming to ensure contractors could plan their workforce needs in advance, and said too many workers were doing multiple shifts. He gave the example of someone going straight from a Network Rail job to a TfL job, before doing some taxi driving then going on to another Network Rail shift.
Network Rail’s head of professional development and training, Guy Wilmshurst-Smith, said the new ‘Sentinel 2’ scheme would help with lone worker maintenance, fatigue management and cut the bureaucracy involved.
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