Health and Safety - Meh

[Fyldeboy]

Safety on the railway has progressed incrementally over the decades and we are all grateful for that.

However, just as a little nostalgia fix, I remember working catering turns in the early 1990s in Mk1 RBRs. Whilst we were using microwaves in the HSTs the MK1s (even when used as just buffets) were gas fueled. Early morning at the departure station the catering staff would be down on hands and knees to light the boiler - but once in a while there would be a flash of flame and my (then brown) facial hair would suddenly become singed grey! No accident book, no interuption of service, next job - count the sandwiches onboard!

 

[Rescars]

In the late 1970s, there was a standing instruction that all food in a Mark 1 catering vehicle which was involved in an accident, however minor, had to be written off - as asbestos waste.

 

[Fyldeboy]

In the late 1970s, there was a standing instruction that all food in a Mark 1 catering vehicle which was involved in an accident, however minor, had to be written off - as asbestos waste.

Fascinating, I'm sure Intercity Mk1s wouldn't have had asbestos treatment, so presumably that instruction was still valid - not that anyone in local management or on train knew it!

 

[Dunnideer]

Safety on the railway has progressed incrementally over the decades and we are all grateful for that.

However, just as a little nostalgia fix, I remember working catering turns in the early 1990s in Mk1 RBRs. Whilst we were using microwaves in the HSTs the MK1s (even when used as just buffets) were gas fueled. Early morning at the departure station the catering staff would be down on hands and knees to light the boiler - but once in a while there would be a flash of flame and my (then brown) facial hair would suddenly become singed grey! No accident book, no interuption of service, next job - count the sandwiches onboard!

Microwaves get a special mention in the Conditions of Service of Concilliation Staff (the 'Blue Book') from 1985:

All staff working with microwave ovens shall be permitted to take time off from work, with pay, for a medical check of any effects on them from the microwave ovens. Such checks shall be made at not less than six monthly intervals, on request.
(JSC, Item 4, 17th October, 1980)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Microwaves get a special mention in the Conditions of Service of Concilliation Staff (the 'Blue Book') from 1985:

All staff working with microwave ovens shall be permitted to take time off from work, with pay, for a medical check of any effects on them from the microwave ovens. Such checks shall be made at not less than six monthly intervals, on request.
(JSC, Item 4, 17th October, 1980)

I remember from being a kid that there was a fair level of paranoia about microwave ovens, most of which never proved to actually be true. It's possible theoretically to suffer ill effects if a seal is damaged, but such damage would usually be visible.

 

[Rescars]

I remember from being a kid that there was a fair level of paranoia about microwave ovens, most of which never proved to actually be true. It's possible theoretically to suffer ill effects if a seal is damaged, but such damage would usually be visible.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2022 ==

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== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Apr 2022 ==

Back then no-one knew how microwave ovens would stand up to being rattled about in a buffet car kitchen where, by definition, everything is very compact and there is very little distance between members of the crew and the kitchen equipment