CR plans security conference for signal officials

Senior central railway officials have planned to organise a security conference for employees from the Signal and Telecom department to discuss their unsafe working conditions and the safety measures that need to be adopted. The conference has been planned on June 22 at the parcel building located at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

Railway officials from the Signal and Telecom department from railway divisions of Solapur, Nagpur and Bhusaval will participate in the conference.

Officials said there is a lack of safety equipment for the trackman and engineers while working on the railway tracks.

“Four months back, a senior official from the signal and telecom department was killed after he was knocked down by a passing train while carrying out the inspection of the railway tracks. Such incidents keep occurring every month. It is important that the railway board brings a safety apparatus in place to avoid such incidents,” said an official from the Signal and Telecom department at CST.

Officials added that the trackmen must be provided with gumboots and raincoats during monsoon as their work involves working for more than 10 hours on the railway tracks.

The need to bring some safety measures for the protection of the signal equipment during monsoon was also raised by the officials. “During the monsoon, signal failures are a common occurrence as there is waterlogging at the signalling area. The railway board must try to bring a permanent solution to all these problems,” said the official.

There is less number of railway employees to cater to the increasing number of railway zones.