RMT PROTECTS FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS

www.rmt.org.uk :: march 2007 :: RMTnews Following a concerted campaign by RMT and its Parliamentary group, the government has stepped back from plans to remove ‘Section 12’ regulations covering ‘sub-surface stations’ throughout Britain. The Fire Precautions (Sub Surface Railway Stations) Regulations 1989 made up Section 12 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971, and were added on the recommendation of the Fennell Report into the 1987 King’s Cross fire which claimed 31 lives. The Regulations have been retained as a subsection of the Fire Safety Order which was introduced in October 2006 and cover ‘sub-surface stations’, including those on London Underground, underground systems in Glasgow, Tyne and Wear and also national rail stations including Birmingham New Street, London’s Charing Cross and several in Liverpool. The government’s previous position was that the Regulations and the Order would be run in tandem for up to a period of 12 months to monitor the effectiveness of the new arrangements. The Scottish Executive has now said that they will follow the arrangements that are put in place at Westminster. WORKING GROUP RMT’s Parliamentary group had also persuaded the previous minister responsible for fire safety, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, to consider a working group and allow the union to demonstrate where the Fire Safety Order did not provide the same protection as the 1989 Regulations. The new minister responsible, Angela Smith MP, subsequently agreed to this proposal. The first meeting of the working group took place last month and was chaired by RMT Parliamentary convenor, John McDonnell MP. Civil Servants, London Underground and the London Fire Brigade attended the working group as well as the union side. The remit of the working group was to consider whether there would be any gaps or loss of necessary protection were the 1989 Regulations to be removed and to make recommendations for a way forward. The discussions at the working group were constructive and not long after this meeting direct discussion took place with the minister. At that meeting there was a welcome recognition from the government of the considerable public interest and awareness in respect of fire safety following the Kings Cross Fire. This awareness has been heightened by the increased security and safety concerns following the terrorist attacks in 2005. The government also indicated that there was not necessarily a firm deadline to resolve this issue rather it was more important to identify what were the best arrangements to ensure fire safety at sub surface stations. Arising from these discussions there are indications from the government that where a clear case cannot be made that the Fire Safety Order will be as least as safe as the 1989 Regulations then those Regulations could be retained. RECOMMENDATIONS The position that the union has adopted during these discussions is that whilst some of the 1989 Regulations may no longer be relevant, necessary or are now covered by the Fire Safety Order, or by other legislation, it remains absolutely the case that a number of the 1989 Regulations need to be retained. The union is currently consulting with safety and legal experts to produce recommendations detailing which regulations need to be retained and this will be submitted to the working group and then to the government. In this, the year of the 20th anniversary of the Kings Cross Fire, continued campaigning has ensured that RMT has been able to make this progress to ensure a safe environment for transport staff and passengers. 13 RMT forces government to step back from removing fire safety rules brought after the 1987 Kings Cross fire RMT PROTECTS FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS