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Leeds railway station staff 'fail to help' fall woman

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/77468000/jpg/_77468038_leeds_escalators.jpg)
The woman fell on one of the escalators, which run alongside the steps between platforms at Leeds station

A train operator is investigating a claim that its staff at Leeds railway station refused to help a woman who fell on an escalator because they were not "people handling-trained".

The incident was witnessed by commuter Tom Lees who described the worker's response as "shameful behaviour".

Mr Lees contacted the BBC after being given the explanation by station staff.

Northern Rail has apologised for the incident and said it was investigating the claim.

Mr Lees said the woman fell backwards after she lost her footing while travelling up an escalator connecting the platforms. He said: "Some passengers nearby quickly grabbed to help her and shouted to the staff who were stood down the bottom of the escalator about 20 yards away and they sort of refused to help. I went and spoke to them to ask them why they wouldn't help. They said they weren't allowed to get involved because they weren't 'people handling-trained'."

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Northern Rail said: "We report any accident directly to Network Rail so a qualified first aider can be alerted. We will be carrying out a full investigation and rebriefing our staff on customer support on the frontline."

The woman who fell on the escalator is not believed to have been injured.

"People Handling trained".   Where was this silly phrase dug up from as are many others from people who invent their own Health and Safety Rules.

Who said the woman needed lifting single-handed, as a deadweight? Very rare forvthat need

I wonder if that passenger was drunk or messing around on the escalator. It all seems one-sided at the moment.

Anyhow its a Notwork Fail station, so their staff should at a minimum be keeping an eye out.

I would not have picked up the person, I would have pressed the big red button and kept the escalator clear and told the person to keep still till properly trained (and insured) assistance arrived.

Whilst it's unlikely that a first aider would be prosecuted if they further injured someone they had gone to assist, negligent action on their part could still be deemed illegal. Or if not criminally negligent then the negligent action could give rise to a civil claim.

Tom Lees, 25, said he was waiting for a train at around 10.30am when he spotted an ^old lady fall backwards^ while travelling up an escalator.

He said one passenger ^grabbed her^ and another stopped the escalator by pressing an emergency button. ^A third called the Northern Rail staff to help but they just stood there like lemons,^ he said.
 
Mr Lees, a scientist working in the road industry, added: ^I dashed up the escalator ^ she was in a very precarious position. Afterwards I asked [the staff] why they didn^t help and they said they weren^t allowed to because they weren^t ^people-handling trained^.

^I said it was shameful behaviour.^ Northern Rail runs passenger trains across the north of England and is the largest train operator in the UK. This week it introduced peak evening fares ^ meaning some weekday tickets will cost 117 per cent more.

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But John Rowe, head of operations for the Health and Safety Executive in Yorkshire and the Humber, said it was a ^ridiculous^ situation, adding: ^There nothing in the Health and Safety at Work Act that prevents people offering assistance to others in distress.

^I can only think that either the company^s own policies are being stretched and misinterpreted by their employees, or the individuals in question didn^t fancy getting involved and they just used health and safety as a convenient excuse.^

ARTICLE 223-6
(Ordinance No. 2000-916 of 19 September 2000 Article 3 Official Journal of 22 September into force 1 January 2002)
 Anyone who, being able to prevent by immediate action a felony or a misdemeanour against the bodily integrity of a
person, without risk to himself or to third parties, wilfully abstains from doing so, is punished by five years' imprisonment
and a fine of ^75,000.
 The same penalties apply to anyone who wilfully fails to offer assistance to a person in danger which he could
himself provide without risk to himself or to third parties, or by initiating rescue operations.

[/b]ARTICLE 122-7
 A person is not criminally liable if confronted with a present or imminent danger to himself, another person or
property, he performs an act necessary to ensure the safety of the person or property, except where the means used
are disproportionate to the seriousness of the threat

The same penalties apply to anyone who wilfully fails to offer assistance to a person in danger, which he could
provide without risk to himself or to third parties, either by his own actions or by initiating rescue operations.