Facemasks. Change to attitudes (passengers and staff) on public transport?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) a long article, including

When it comes to studying faces, the eyes and mouth are the most informative regions because they tend to be the most expressive. We subconsciously analyse their combined movements to figure out what someone is trying to tell us. Even so, each feature alone can communicate certain emotions especially well. The mouth region, in particular, is good for expressing feelings of happiness. Concealing this area can be problematic when wanting to come across as approachable and friendly ...

We have excellent customer facing staff for the most part (the vast majority). Is the wearing of facemarks going to make it very much more difficult for them to best offer friendly advice, and / or to judge passenger's reaction to that advice?

Silly question I have not seen answered - will staff have to wear masks too?

Edit to correct subject line spelling

[Electric train]

Silly question I have not seen answered - will staff have to wear masks too?

Yes.

Network Rail instructed all its staff, 2 weeks ago, when travelling on public transport and on station either for duty or commuting purposes to wear face coverings.

Many of the customer facing staff on stations wear clear visors but the mouth and nose mask is an option.

Face coverings are going to be the norm in many activities for many month to come.

[stuving]

Facemarks. Change to attitudes (passengers and staff) on public transport?

I thought this would be about a very different subject.

[grahame]

Facemarks. Change to attitudes (passengers and staff) on public transport?

I thought this would be about a very different subject.

Oops

[IndustryInsider]

Silly question I have not seen answered - will staff have to wear masks too?

Yes.

I believe drivers won't have to wear them in cabs (where they will be in a non-public area and alone), but will have to do so if walking through or sitting in the train.  Other on-train staff will need to wear them at all times.

[Wizard]

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

[IndustryInsider]

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

Well, there will be a massive shift on the staff percentage (only when on train in public areas mind you), and I think there will be a significant shift in the passenger percentage.  It won't be 100% as there will be a few that won't and will be able to avoid the risk of a telling off from the BTP^▸ (British Transport Police), but of course if it's only 80-90% then that in itself will help stop the spread of the virus to some degree.

[didcotdean]

Has anything been issued yet about how people who fall legitimately into the category of not being able to wear a face covering such those with breathing difficulties can be identified so they aren't constantly challenged about not wearing one?

[TaplowGreen]

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

I'm surprised we haven't heard from Bruvver Cash on this yet? Surely it's worth a strike ballot? Or at least a pay rise to reflect the additional effort of putting on/taking off a mask?

[TonyN]

Just made my first train journey since early March.
Pershore to Evesham to collect the Car after repair (I took it in yesterday and walked back) 2 pasengers on at Pershore and 2 off
about the same at Evesham but there where about 10 joining a train towards Worcester.
There where 2 cars in the car park at Evesham 1 left as I walked out towards the garage.
I wore a mask but did not see anyone else wearing one.
The Guard did not offer to sell me a ticket but I had an E ticket on my phone anyway.
Ticket Machine still not installed at Pershore.

[Celestial]

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

I'm surprised we haven't heard from Bruvver Cash on this yet? Surely it's worth a strike ballot? Or at least a pay rise to reflect the additional effort of putting on/taking off a mask?

But we have:-

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Press Office:
RMT responds to Government and Rail Delivery Group on face masks this morning
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said:

“There is a real danger that the Government and the Rail Delivery Group are sending out a signal that as long as you cover your face you are safe to ‎head back onto the tubes and trains regardless of whether you are an essential worker making an essential journey. That risks a surge in passengers as we saw last weekend with the principles of social distancing blown apart with huge risks to staff and passengers alike.

“It's also clear that the Government and industry bosses are expecting our members to police this policy. That will put over-stretched rail workers right in the front line once again and will leave them at risk of being abused, assaulted and spat at by aggressive passengers refusing to comply. This policy must be properly risk assessed with staff fully protected.

“If this policy had been introduced sooner and the principle of covering your face established earlier some of these risks our members now face could have been avoided.

So Bruvver Cash wants the railway to continue to run with as few passengers as possible, whilst all his members, many on trains simply because the RMT has fiercely resisted proposals to do away with their roles, carry on being fully paid whilst providing a service to almost nobody.  Good job NHS staff and other key workers didn't have the same attitude at the height of the pandemic. 


 

[Robin Summerhill]

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

I'm surprised we haven't heard from Bruvver Cash on this yet? Surely it's worth a strike ballot? Or at least a pay rise to reflect the additional effort of putting on/taking off a mask?

This reminds me of an old joke from the 1980s:-

Arthur Scargill and the Pope were out fishing, In a boat. And the Pope fell in.

He shouted "Arthur, Arthur, save me!!"

So Arthur Scargill got out of the boat, walked across the water, picked the Pope up and put him back in the boat.

Next Morning's headlines in the Mail "ARTHUR SCARGILL CAN'T SWIM"

[TaplowGreen]

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

I'm surprised we haven't heard from Bruvver Cash on this yet? Surely it's worth a strike ballot? Or at least a pay rise to reflect the additional effort of putting on/taking off a mask?

But we have:-

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Press Office:
RMT responds to Government and Rail Delivery Group on face masks this morning
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said:

“There is a real danger that the Government and the Rail Delivery Group are sending out a signal that as long as you cover your face you are safe to ‎head back onto the tubes and trains regardless of whether you are an essential worker making an essential journey. That risks a surge in passengers as we saw last weekend with the principles of social distancing blown apart with huge risks to staff and passengers alike.

“It's also clear that the Government and industry bosses are expecting our members to police this policy. That will put over-stretched rail workers right in the front line once again and will leave them at risk of being abused, assaulted and spat at by aggressive passengers refusing to comply. This policy must be properly risk assessed with staff fully protected.

“If this policy had been introduced sooner and the principle of covering your face established earlier some of these risks our members now face could have been avoided.

So Bruvver Cash wants the railway to continue to run with as few passengers as possible, whilst all his members, many on trains simply because the RMT has fiercely resisted proposals to do away with their roles, carry on being fully paid whilst providing a service to almost nobody.  Good job NHS staff and other key workers didn't have the same attitude at the height of the pandemic. 


 

You'd genuinely think it was a parody wouldn't you? Or perhaps a Monty Python sketch?

How are the plans going for a strike over volunteers helping out at busy stations?

[Electric train]

Has anything been issued yet about how people who fall legitimately into the category of not being able to wear a face covering such those with breathing difficulties can be identified so they aren't constantly challenged about not wearing one?

I believe DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) are funding roving "security" staff whilst not having enforcement powers will advise people to wear face coverings

Out and about today, I’d estimate around 20% of passengers and 5% of staff are wearing masks. I can’t see a massive shift by Monday somehow.

I'm surprised we haven't heard from Bruvver Cash on this yet? Surely it's worth a strike ballot? Or at least a pay rise to reflect the additional effort of putting on/taking off a mask?

But we have:-

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Press Office:
RMT responds to Government and Rail Delivery Group on face masks this morning
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said:

“There is a real danger that the Government and the Rail Delivery Group are sending out a signal that as long as you cover your face you are safe to ‎head back onto the tubes and trains regardless of whether you are an essential worker making an essential journey. That risks a surge in passengers as we saw last weekend with the principles of social distancing blown apart with huge risks to staff and passengers alike.

“It's also clear that the Government and industry bosses are expecting our members to police this policy. That will put over-stretched rail workers right in the front line once again and will leave them at risk of being abused, assaulted and spat at by aggressive passengers refusing to comply. This policy must be properly risk assessed with staff fully protected.

“If this policy had been introduced sooner and the principle of covering your face established earlier some of these risks our members now face could have been avoided.

So Bruvver Cash wants the railway to continue to run with as few passengers as possible, whilst all his members, many on trains simply because the RMT has fiercely resisted proposals to do away with their roles, carry on being fully paid whilst providing a service to almost nobody.  Good job NHS staff and other key workers didn't have the same attitude at the height of the pandemic. 


 

You'd genuinely think it was a parody wouldn't you? Or perhaps a Monty Python sketch?

 

It should be remembered that the Unions have been calling for staff and passengers to wear face coverings for months; and have been working with senior managers in the industry on the implementation of this Government policy.  The Government announcement was not a surprise to the industry   

[grahame]

How are the plans going for a strike over volunteers helping out at busy stations?

I believe DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) are funding roving "security" staff whilst not having enforcement powers will advise people to wear face coverings  

From the community / volunteer grapevine, I have not heard any whispers of looking for volunteers for this role, nor anything from the Community Rail Network (*) and I would make an educated guess that the DfT funded staff are an alternative.

* - There is updated guidance from the Community Rail Network in an email of yesterday - I will be fully reading that today, updating pages, sharing as appropriate - so I might have missed something, but it was certainly not a headline call.. There are quite a number of volunteers across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), especially at smaller stations, and there's a start to some being able to go resume some limited activities - but it would be a very interesting step for the Community Rail Network to promote for volunteers (or paid staff such as CROs) from within their members to this customer advice role.