Unions pass motion on maximum cab temperature

Britain’s trade union movement has voted to support a maximum workplace temperature of 26ºC, after a train driver spoke out about “decades-old, unsuitable” cabs without air-conditioning.

Delegates at the annual Trades Union Congress in Brighton passed a motion by train drivers’ union ASLEF arguing that extreme workplace temperatures posed a safety risk to both workers and the public.

Proposing the motion, ASLEF delegate Angela O’Sullivan said: “While we have strict rules and procedures for so many things, the conditions that drivers work in have been overlooked for many years.

“The most modern cabs now have air-conditioning, which allows the driver to control the temperature and keep the cab comfortable, but in many areas of the country, older units are still in use. These do not have air conditioning.

“The train companies are overhauling older rolling stock and modernising it. They refit the passenger saloon, they repaint the bodywork, it all looks shiny and new. And then you realise nothing has been done to update the driver’s cab. The poor driver is stuck in a decades-old, unsuitable environment once again.”

The motion acknowledged that in some industries, a maximum temperature might “prove impracticable or impossible”, but argued that “this should not be a bar to stipulating a maximum temperature at work where this can be achieved”.

O’Sullivan added: “In some of our older cabs, particularly in the rail freight sector, drivers will tell you they open a window to try to reduce the heat, only for the noise of the engine to then be so loud, they cannot hear important safety devices, such as the AWS.

“An uncomfortable, distracted driver is not a safe driver - not safe for themselves, the railway or the travelling public.”

A Rail Delivery Group spokesman said: “The rail industry has been working hard to keep its drivers safe, improving infrastructure to allow both freight and passenger trains to run more efficiently.”

The RDG said the number of airconditioned cabs was “increasing every week”, with more than 5,000 “brand-new passenger vehicles” introduced since 2015.