London Banter - View Single Post

[email protected] · November 13th 03, 08:05 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article ,
(Clive D. W. Feather) wrote:

In article , "I@n"
-uk writes
I don't care what anyone says, doctors note or not, there is no way
someone can be well enough to play squash but be unable to push a few
buttons on a train, or perform lesser duties for a while if necessary.

Irrespective of the facts of the original case, that statement is
rubbish.

Four examples off the top of my head:

(1) The person is short of stamina and can only stay active for an hour
or two. Fine for playing squash but not for driving trains.

(2) The person has an injury in an area which doesn't affect them
playing squash but does affect train driving (e.g. left wrist of a
right-handed person, or a hip problem preventing them sitting in one
position for long periods.

(3) The injured area is reliable enough for unimportant tasks but not
for critical ones. Exercising an injured ankle through playing squash
might be recommended; if it starts to hurt, the person can stop
playing, whereas if it plays up while driving a train, they can't just
stop.

(4) The person has an intermittent eyesight problem that doesn't stop
them playing a game but isn't safe for something like train driving.
For example, temporary blindness in one part of the retina, or
temporary blindness in low light.

And finally there's one that's happened to me: "don't you dare go back
to work until everything's been fine for a few days".

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8371 1138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

Don't have the original posting, but just to dispel some incorrect
thinking:

A driver doesn't have to be fit to drive the train - he could be carried
into the cab and plonked on his seat and still drive the train. However
the driver does have to be fit to deal with anything (emergency or
non-emergency) that may occur while he is in charge of the train. This
often seems to get overlooked. One such thing could be detraining
passengers and/or walking along the track. Drivers have a yearly mobility
test for just this purpose (together with a basic eyesight test).

Roger