Staff using phones

[Timmyd]

What are the rules on gateline and platform staff using phones when on duty? I know how all frustrated we all are with the amount of fare evasion, but I’m amazed how often the staff who supervise the barriers just seem to be permitted to scroll on their phones while supposedly performing safety-critical roles. I saw the same with Elizabeth Line platform staff at the weekend too.

I did wonder if they were doing online training (which wouldn’t be acceptable anyway) but from what I can see it seems not anyway. This was a zone 1 station yesterday afternoon - as you can see he’s scrolling instagram or TikTok or similar. You could take the picture all over the system every day. Is this permitted? And if not, why is it so widely tolerated?

 

[bluegoblin7]

Attending a gateline is not a safety critical activity. If no customers require assistance - and your photo would suggest not - I’m not sure what the issue is, frankly.

Could you share your workplace so that I can come and take a photo of you whilst you’re in a less busy period, and then ask if it would be acceptable on the Internet? Thanks.

 

[djw1]

I quite often see District line train operators visibly using their phone when the train is pulling into the platform in ATO. I think it’s especially bad because customers can easily notice it on the platform.

(I’m not saying this is only an issue on District as I am sure it isn’t, it’s just District is my main line)

 

[bluegoblin7]

Are they using their phone or is it their SID/OPOs?

Contrary to attending a gateline this is a safety critical activity and if you are certain that a member of staff is using their phone whilst operating a train you should report this.

Of course if you are not certain then you could end up hauling a member of staff through a fact finding process without any basis.

 

[AlterEgo]

I have never ever seen a TO use their phone on the Tube, so I am surprised to see someone claim they see it "quite often".

 

[Watershed]

Attending a gateline is not a safety critical activity. If no customers require assistance - and your photo would suggest not - I’m not sure what the issue is, frankly.

Could you share your workplace so that I can come and take a photo of you whilst you’re in a less busy period, and then ask if it would be acceptable on the Internet? Thanks.

Is it permitted for LU staff to be using their personal phones whilst on duty? And if so, is that permitted whilst they're in public?

 

[boiledbeans2]

I have never ever seen a TO use their phone on the Tube, so I am surprised to see someone claim they see it "quite often".

Here's a famous multi-tasking example:

London Underground driver sacked after knitting and watching videos at the wheel

Footage shows the driver of the Northern Line train at Hendon Central station appearing distracted as pulled away from the stop in February.

metro.co.uk

 

[Segedunum]

Gatelines aren't safety critical and having done the job myself sometimes you'll not have much going on - so a quick look at your phone is really neither here nor there as long as you're actually ready to assist with a passenger or other situation as needed. Its not exactly "permitted" but you use your common sense. Plus as @bluegoblin7 says staff do get issued with work devices which will contain information necessary for the role.

What I do object to is when you find staff huddled in a corner watching videos or the like. I don't expect it to take several goes to get someone's attention or for there to be a blatant disinterest in the job. Like I say, I know how monotonous it can get but you need to at least look like you care.

 

[Timmyd]

Attending a gateline is not a safety critical activity. If no customers require assistance - and your photo would suggest not - I’m not sure what the issue is, frankly.

Could you share your workplace so that I can come and take a photo of you whilst you’re in a less busy period, and then ask if it would be acceptable on the Internet? Thanks.

Typical defensive answer that you get from LU staff on here. I work in a customer facing role for a major retailer. I can tell you that if I was sat on a checkout scrolling my phone, even if there was no customer there, I’d be fired. That’s what breaks are for. There’s no incentive for fare dodgers not to push through if the person responsible for a gateline isn’t supervising it.

To turn it round, if his role isn’t safety critical, why have the role at all? You don’t have people sat there on the Paris Metro or New York Subway so why is he needed here? Easy way to save a few quid for the few of us who still bother paying fares now.

 

[bahnause]

Typical defensive answer that you get from LU staff on here. I work in a customer facing role for a major retailer. I can tell you that if I was sat on a checkout scrolling my phone, even if there was no customer there, I’d be fired. That’s what breaks are for. There’s no incentive for fare dodgers not to push through if the person responsible for a gateline isn’t supervising it.

What is this comparison supposed to tell us? That, from now on, all employees of all employers should work in accordance with your employer’s guidelines?

I work in a safety-critical role in the rail sector. And I use my mobile phone frequently every day whilst at work. All relevant information is provided to us via various apps and websites. So there’s simply no getting round it. It’s all very well that you seem to manage at your workplace without regularly updated information, but that’s not the case in other sectors.

 

[Watershed]

What is this comparison supposed to tell us? That, from now on, all employees of all employers should work in accordance with your employer’s guidelines?

I work in a safety-critical role in the rail sector. And I use my mobile phone frequently every day whilst at work. All relevant information is provided to us via various apps and websites. So there’s simply no getting round it. It’s all very well that you seem to manage at your workplace without regularly updated information, but that’s not the case in other sectors.

I think there is a very big difference between using a work phone for work purposes, which is clearly fine and intended, and using a personal phone for non-work purposes whilst at work - which is sometimes allowed but not always.

It's curious that @bluegoblin7 has chosen not to clarify what LU's rules are on this. I say this genuinely because there are workplaces where personal use of devices is permitted provided it doesn't interfere with work duties, so I'm not rushing to any judgment as to whether or not the actions shown here are a breach of LU policies.

 

[speedy1]

This thread will get locked shortly no doubt lol

 

[Timmyd]

I think there is a very big difference between using a work phone for work purposes, which is clearly fine and intended, and using a personal phone for non-work purposes whilst at work - which is sometimes allowed but not always.

It's curious that @bluegoblin7 has chosen not to clarify what LU's rules are on this. I say this genuinely because there are workplaces where personal use of devices is permitted provided it doesn't interfere with work duties, so I'm not rushing to any judgment as to whether or not the actions shown here are a breach of LU policies.

That was an exactly the point of the original post, and I don’t understand why it’s escalated. As an interested and concerned passenger, I was interested in whether indeed use of personal devices for personal consumption of social media (which is evidently what’s happening here) is permitted while manning a gateline. I have taken care to obscure the individual employee in the photo