This may seem like an obscure question, would anyone be able to break down the role/day in the life of an MOM? To be honest, it would be helpful for an LOM too if possible. I've seen the briefing by the union designating them as separate to incident response and that's thrown me off a bit. Apologies if the Q seems banal, it can be hard to get up to date information scraping the internet.
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LOM/MOM Information
- Thread starter Hylo
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I am a MOM and to be honest it varies between areas and routes. It is a national job description but speaking with colleagues in other places no two areas seem to do it the same. That said at the core of the role is incident response, maybe you’re getting mixed up with the current issues between the MOM grade and the MIOs? There’s a bit of strife going on at the moment around MOM grading (attempts being made to up the maximum MOM grade from 7 to 8) and also around the overlap between MIO and MOM for incident response (from what I understand at the moment the MIOs don’t seem to do too much and will hand over an incident and leave once the the MOM arrives). I think the union is trying to get a bit more clarity about what the grade 9 MIOs are actually expected to do other than look cool sitting in the popo car with their raybans on.
In my area we work a mix of earlies/lates and days (07:00 to 18:00), we only have one MOM on shift at a time and we changeover mid week. For a typical early or day shift I drive to the office and book on with control by phone at 0700 then spend the first hour or so catching up with emails. We do location visits to each signalbox in the area once a week as per the national operating procedures, which is just checking to make sure everything is in order and the place is tidy and habitable. Sometimes we’re asked to do signaller supervisory visits on behalf of the LOM if they are getting behind a bit. Unless there’s some urgent task needing done from the LOM or Control, or my mate on the other shift has handed me over a job, I’ll usually head out to a signalbox or two in the morning then get lunch out. Normally I’ll come back to the office in the afternoon and do admin stuff (SSoWPS requests, ordering stores etc…), tidy up around the place, check the equipment in the van etc… We also do location case checks to sure that operational equipment like clamps and scotches is present and correct, and we carry out proactive trespass and vandalism checks at known hotspots. We used to do a program of cab ride patrols every period too but that all got knocked on the head with Covid. Sometimes I like to just go out for a drive on a nice day, park next to the line and wait for a call out while watching the world go by. That’s the beauty of the job, no one is really too bothered what you’re up to as long as you’re not ripping it and you answer the phone when it rings.
At any time I could be called by Control to go to an incident so you need to be able to drop stuff quickly and know the area inside out so you know the best way to get to every access point from wherever you are. Call outs can be anything from a simple dropped mobile phone at a station to a fatality involving multiple parties and emergency services. Some weeks are busy and some weeks are quiet but personally I prefer the busy ones. To be honest it can get pretty boring when you’ve done everything in the office and there’s no call outs, especially with being on shift alone.
As I say all areas do things differently, I know for example that some areas the MOMs don’t have anything to do with the signalboxes or signallers at all. Some areas want their MOMs to standby at critical junctions in the peak times for a rapid response if there’s a failure. A few routes use Airwave radios (like the police) rather than phones for comms betwen Control and the MOMs, so they can all hear what each other is up to. In some places the MOMs cross-cover adjacent areas so you need to have a broader geographic knowledge than just your own patch. I think we are the last route in NR that has on-call for MOMs, we don’t have any nightshifts so once the shift is over the phone stays on and you have to be available to respond from the house at any time. In my area we don’t have booked Sundays either and so they are also covered by on-call.
I’m yet to see a LOM actually attend an incident, though in fairness I do sometimes speak to the on call LOM if I need a bit of guidance when I’m at an incident. From what I’ve seen it looks like a pretty thankless job sat in front of a laptop all day and it’s not one I would consider applying for. The MOM job is very much what you make of it. The bonuses in my opinion are being out and about and being left alone most of the time to manage things how you see fit. The downsides for me are dealing with the public and some of the stuff around fatalities can haunt you a bit if you let it. I really like being a MOM and I find the incident response part really rewarding.
Wow, this reply is a lot longer than I intended when I started writing it!
In my area we work a mix of earlies/lates and days (07:00 to 18:00), we only have one MOM on shift at a time and we changeover mid week. For a typical early or day shift I drive to the office and book on with control by phone at 0700 then spend the first hour or so catching up with emails. We do location visits to each signalbox in the area once a week as per the national operating procedures, which is just checking to make sure everything is in order and the place is tidy and habitable. Sometimes we’re asked to do signaller supervisory visits on behalf of the LOM if they are getting behind a bit. Unless there’s some urgent task needing done from the LOM or Control, or my mate on the other shift has handed me over a job, I’ll usually head out to a signalbox or two in the morning then get lunch out. Normally I’ll come back to the office in the afternoon and do admin stuff (SSoWPS requests, ordering stores etc…), tidy up around the place, check the equipment in the van etc… We also do location case checks to sure that operational equipment like clamps and scotches is present and correct, and we carry out proactive trespass and vandalism checks at known hotspots. We used to do a program of cab ride patrols every period too but that all got knocked on the head with Covid. Sometimes I like to just go out for a drive on a nice day, park next to the line and wait for a call out while watching the world go by. That’s the beauty of the job, no one is really too bothered what you’re up to as long as you’re not ripping it and you answer the phone when it rings.
At any time I could be called by Control to go to an incident so you need to be able to drop stuff quickly and know the area inside out so you know the best way to get to every access point from wherever you are. Call outs can be anything from a simple dropped mobile phone at a station to a fatality involving multiple parties and emergency services. Some weeks are busy and some weeks are quiet but personally I prefer the busy ones. To be honest it can get pretty boring when you’ve done everything in the office and there’s no call outs, especially with being on shift alone.
As I say all areas do things differently, I know for example that some areas the MOMs don’t have anything to do with the signalboxes or signallers at all. Some areas want their MOMs to standby at critical junctions in the peak times for a rapid response if there’s a failure. A few routes use Airwave radios (like the police) rather than phones for comms betwen Control and the MOMs, so they can all hear what each other is up to. In some places the MOMs cross-cover adjacent areas so you need to have a broader geographic knowledge than just your own patch. I think we are the last route in NR that has on-call for MOMs, we don’t have any nightshifts so once the shift is over the phone stays on and you have to be available to respond from the house at any time. In my area we don’t have booked Sundays either and so they are also covered by on-call.
I’m yet to see a LOM actually attend an incident, though in fairness I do sometimes speak to the on call LOM if I need a bit of guidance when I’m at an incident. From what I’ve seen it looks like a pretty thankless job sat in front of a laptop all day and it’s not one I would consider applying for. The MOM job is very much what you make of it. The bonuses in my opinion are being out and about and being left alone most of the time to manage things how you see fit. The downsides for me are dealing with the public and some of the stuff around fatalities can haunt you a bit if you let it. I really like being a MOM and I find the incident response part really rewarding.
Wow, this reply is a lot longer than I intended when I started writing it!
Falcon1200
Established Member
That's a great reply, and as an ex-Controller I must say that MOMs like yourself are worth their weight in gold, being our eyes on the ground ! I did not often have to call out LOMs, as well as MOMs, to incidents, this would usually be for major problems such as single line working where, in certain areas such as the WCML in Scotland, up to four staff could (ludicrously in the 21st Century) be required on the ground. Some LOMs were more amenable to turning out than others, that's all I will say.....
@Dunnideer That is an absolutely fantastic reply, thank you so so much for taking the time. I appreciate it more than you know.
Yes I'm applying from out of the industry and the real day to day role information was very hard to find. I found a post from 2013 listing the role as primarily incident response and then a letter from RMT talking about MIO's etc. Little confusing without context. It sounds to me, as long as you fit the profile, that it would be a very rewarding career.
Thank you again for taking the time.
*edit, now i think about it, do you have any experience in how new entrants would be trained in 2022? I assume a formal school environ for 3months+ and then shadowing into observed work into solo or is it more deep end than that?*
Yes I'm applying from out of the industry and the real day to day role information was very hard to find. I found a post from 2013 listing the role as primarily incident response and then a letter from RMT talking about MIO's etc. Little confusing without context. It sounds to me, as long as you fit the profile, that it would be a very rewarding career.
Thank you again for taking the time.
*edit, now i think about it, do you have any experience in how new entrants would be trained in 2022? I assume a formal school environ for 3months+ and then shadowing into observed work into solo or is it more deep end than that?*
WoollyMammoth
Member
Haha, thanks mate, read it earlier, very useful info
I think the main thing for me with the MOM role is that you need to be completely comfortable making decisions and using your own judgement. Obviously you must work to the rule book but a lot of the time there are judgement calls to be made about exactly how to manage things on site to get the safest and best outcome. Good communication skills are really important too but unless you can make a decision then I’d say you would find it hard work (‘you’ in general, not meaning you in particular). Of course you also have to be able to justify why you decided to do things a certain way to the hindsight brigade the next day but even making a decision that turned out not so great is better than being paralysed with indecisiveness and everyone looking to you for an answer.
As for training I don’t know how they do it now but when I started a few years ago it was just a series of short courses at the training centre a bit like signalling school but just dealing with all the trackside and operational stuff, so it was only about 3 or 4 weeks. I had been a signaller beforehand though, so it wasn’t all totally new concepts to me. Then in my area they put me on with an experienced MOM until I know the area well enough and could show I knew what I was doing. Also there’s stuff to sign off with your LOM like the final COSS assessement on site before you can be let loose on your own. There’s a lot to learn and I found I took a long time to settle in and really be comfortable in the job.
Sorry for another massive reply!
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A good Controller makes all the difference too! That and a decent roster clerk
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