please empty your brain below
I think many people do not hold the handrail because often it is moving at a different speed to the stairs so constant re-positioning of the hand is required to remain in step and it is easy just to let go.

John | 30.01.18 - 7:12 a.m. | #

Can anyone shed light on the rumour that the Underground's Safety department has been restructured / shrunk in recent months? Would this have anything to do with these unco-ordinated poster campaigns?

Burt | 30.01.18 - 7:15 a.m. | #

I am astonished that such a tightly branded organisation as TfL allows these god-awful handmade posters. It is inconsistent with everything else TfL do.

The yellow posters are indeed the worst. Gone at Euston, but still to be seen all over the rest of the network.

I suppose it is supposed to look “human” but just looks utterly amateurish.

Dan | 30.01.18 - 7:17 a.m. | #

Did a new head of Health & Safety start at TfL on the 1st January?

Jon Jones | 30.01.18 - 7:19 a.m. | #

You can read some background to this in "Reducing Injuries Across TfL", a presentation given to the TfL Safety, Sustainability and Human Resources Panel last November.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.01.18 - 7:25 a.m. | #

I increasingly find myself standing behind some idiot on an escalator who is either looking at their mobile phone screen or texting and when they reach the end they step of the escalator and stop dead in their tracks or just slow to a snails pace causing everyone behind to have to step aside to avoid bumping into them, what is it with people and mobile phones that they have to be on the things constantly, Grrr

fishislandskin | 30.01.18 - 7:26 a.m. | #

There is a mobile phone-related sign at an escalator which I've seen a couple of times lately; I can't be 100% sure but possibly at Waterloo on the Jubilee line

Tony | 30.01.18 - 7:27 a.m. | #

The subconscious mind is incredible, therefore, there will be subliminal effects from all these signs that we are not even aware of. All people know is that advertising works, but 'real' adverts are done by professionals. That is not to say that any individual could not do a better job than an 'expert', so apart from the fact that some are unsightly, not fitting in with Corporate guidelines - who knows what impact they are having (only time will tell)?!

Ken | 30.01.18 - 7:27 a.m. | #

The most striking thing about that memo, dg, is the branding (even the graphics are in TfL house-style!)

So let me get this straight. An internal memo, that no member of the public will ever see, must conform in full to branding guidelines. While posters plastered across every station are made by someone’s nephew on work experience.

dg writes: Meeting papers are always made public on the TfL website.

Dan | 30.01.18 - 7:31 a.m. | #

So for example, there may have been 2 injuries and Liverpool Street and 1 at Moorgate, creating the basis for the 'nearly 70% figure', as has been mentioned, enabling mobile phone coverage underground will make passengers far more likely to be inattentive, and more likely to be involved in accidents.

Still Anon | 30.01.18 - 7:34 a.m. | #

There are also short escalators at Paddington on the H&C.

Silly statistics like this can come from very small sets of data. Two injuries at Liverpool Street and one somewhere else give you 70% with a bit of rounding.

Martin | 30.01.18 - 7:56 a.m. | #

Page 25 of TfL's quarterly performance report says that there were 20 reportable (RIDDOR) passenger injuries across the entire Tube network in Q4 2016-17. That is typical.

Can we reconcile that number with the "reducing injuries" presentation, which seems to say 4000 incidents each year on the Tube, 40% on the escalators. That suggests there should be 400 incidents each quarter on the escalators. Are only 5% "reportable"?

dg writes: 'Reportable' (serious) injuries form only a small subset of all customer injuries.

Andrew | 30.01.18 - 8:18 a.m. | #

Oh, please can we have some poorly drawn yellow signs saying "Your Phone Is An Encumbrance You Must Put It Away". I would like that very much.

Kirk | 30.01.18 - 8:44 a.m. | #

Are there any reported cases of accidents happening on escalators because the person involved was distracted by reading a 'safety' poster?

popartist | 30.01.18 - 8:46 a.m. | #

Two points. Firstly, just putting up safety signs (or making announcements) has been proven not to work - people see them and may temporarily change their behavious the first time, but then ignore them as part of the background clutter. If there are already lots of signs, then they will be ignored quicker.

Secondly, if people using mobile phones is a big cause of accidents, then there should be a spike in accidents when access underground was enabled. If no spike, then this isn't the cause. If there is a spike, then the correct action is to remove access underground as it is unsafe.

Jimbo | 30.01.18 - 9:20 a.m. | #

Well of course we should all be aware of the proper regulations for safety signs...http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l64.pdf
Mobile phone users are a law unto themselves, not paying any attention to their surroundings and thus unaware of any static signs.

b | 30.01.18 - 9:22 a.m. | #

You may be interested in some of the signs and the video promoting escalator safety in Hong Kong:
http://www.isidorsfugue.com/2017/03/dramatic-signs-dont-stop-people-from.html

Here in HK we do have constant announcements telling us "do not only look at your mobile phone" on escalators. In three languages...

Alan | 30.01.18 - 9:26 a.m. | #

OK. I thought "reportable" might mean serious. Presumably the others are just minor.

So, if we are counting all incidents, not just the serious ones, the presentation says just over 100 incidents of all sorts at Liverpool Street in 18 months. Around six per month (out of a passenger throughput of around three million).

They want to reduce that by 17%. Say five per month not six. Strewth.

Andrew | 30.01.18 - 9:45 a.m. | #

Perhaps these yellow posters are actually part of the latest 'Art on the Underground' scheme? /s

RG | 30.01.18 - 10:05 a.m. | #

I'd be perfectly happy with the escalator warning signs if they weren't so ugly!
Well, at least they're not in Comic Sans...YET

James Scantlebury | 30.01.18 - 10:19 a.m. | #

Over the past few years use of mobile internet had increased following LU deals to provide WiFi on stations. Result: more people concentrating on their phones than where they are going. Is 5here a link to the increased number of accidents?
Is this also the cause of more falls on buses as passengers fall into each other rather than hold a hand rail?

Johnegib | 30.01.18 - 10:32 a.m. | #

If TfL are serious about our safety they need to provide free earplugs for the excessive noise (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-42791299) and face masks for the dust.
Broken bones can be fixed, broken hearing and lungs are more difficult.

There's also the issues of excessive heat in the summer and our mental health in the increasing hostile environment.

Tony | 30.01.18 - 10:44 a.m. | #

There's an internal daily report which states the number of ambulances called by the underground some are for people ill on trains and stations but many are for escalator related falls.

mclm | 30.01.18 - 10:47 a.m. | #

Today's Evening Standard reports that so far this financial year, Underground passenger numbers are almost four per cent, or 38 million journeys, below target.

I wonder how much of this is due to former passengers choosing to avoid the wretched, ever-increasing aural and visual H&S bombardment that now has to be endured throughout every TfL journey?

dg writes: Almost none of it.

Gerry | 30.01.18 - 10:54 a.m. | #

OK so by now your dissatisfaction with LT H&S localism is clear.

But what exactly is your beef?

Is it the lack of joined-upness in presentation?
The lack of thinking-through in conception?
The 'amateurishness' of design?
The intrusiveness?
The unproven rationale?

What would a DG - approved campaign look like?

drD | Homepage | 30.01.18 - 11:00 a.m. | #

"But what exactly is your beef?"

I'd say all of it. How about an organisation as brand conscious as TFL and 150 years of past experience coordinate a comprehensive H&S initiative across all modes of transport, not the hodge podge nonsense we have now.

S Anon | 30.01.18 - 11:13 a.m. | #

I'd argue that no additional clutter deserves to become the new normal.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 30.01.18 - 11:40 a.m. | #

Dan,

that 'memo that no member of the public will ever see' is on the TfL website in a place that is heavily scrutinised by a lot of individual people (such as myself and DG) and trade journals (such as Railway Gazette and Modern Railways). You can also be pretty sure assembly members read them very thoroughly.

The 'memo' was effectively a briefing document for the TfL Board.

If ever there was a place for needing accuracy, consistency and clarity then I would think that this is it. And a consistent house style does add to clarity.

Pedantic of Purley | 30.01.18 - 11:49 a.m. | #

Bring back the terrifying public information films!

I found this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zirp59zm1qE

but I can't find the rag doll one which haunted me for decades...

Sarah | Homepage | 30.01.18 - 12:35 p.m. | #

I AVOID holding on to the handrail on the escalator, I avoid holding rails or handles on trains, tubes and buses. I don't want to touch ANYTHING. Eeeugggh, all those germs. You see people picking their noses, scratching their spots, applying makeup, eating, blowing their noses and coughing into their hands. Then they touch something!

Neesy | 30.01.18 - 12:54 p.m. | #

I think some moaning minnies with too much time on their hands and running out of content should relax.

Mark | 30.01.18 - 1:29 p.m. | #

The debate about locally-produced signs seems well worth having.

If widespread wi-fi is causing an increase in accidents, that does not necessarily mean it should be withdrawn. Instead someone should be bold enough to measure the increase, and perhaps make a publicised high level decision to tolerate this increase, for the sake of the benefits of wi-fi. I did say "perhaps".

Malcolm | 30.01.18 - 2:10 p.m. | #

That yellow escalator poster is an all time classic..

Adrian | 30.01.18 - 2:12 p.m. | #

Jimbo said "Firstly, just putting up safety signs (or making announcements) has been proven not to work".

Is there a reference to the paper setting this out (or a report of it)?

Messiah | 30.01.18 - 4:32 p.m. | #

"That yellow escalator poster is an all time classic."

I do hope that someone is making an archive of all the yellow posters.
#SocialHistory
#TransportHistory

drD | Homepage | 30.01.18 - 4:59 p.m. | #

>>It is not what you expect to find on a world class railway

This IS the Tube we're talking about right?
World class*

*2nd rate

Hmm? | 30.01.18 - 6:48 p.m. | #

As someone that used to produce instructional signs for the general public (not Tfl or any other place in England) all I can say is these are disjointed and unfortunate. A coordinated, properly branded safety campaign would be much more effective and would certainly deserve much less derision that these abominations. The longstanding sign is obviously the intended original idea but who ever is producing the others is doing the whole system a disservice. Its sad considering the long history of great, iconic Tube signs. Lets hope someone reigns in the mess.

Steven | Homepage | 30.01.18 - 7:35 p.m. | #

If you are worried about germs on handrails and the like, perhaps we should all wear some sort of protective garment on each hand? The Queen always seems to be wearing them when she shakes hands with people.

Andrew | 30.01.18 - 7:57 p.m. | #

Imagine how nannying TfL is going to become when 4G phone and internet access is provided from entering stns to leaving them at the end of your journey? As Crossrail should have 4G and wifi from opening one wonders how immensely annoying the warning announcements are going to be and how "defaced" by locally made posters all the nice shiny stations are going to be.

PC | 30.01.18 - 8:43 p.m. | #

Are there any statistics for injuries caused by static electricity from escalator handrails?

Stephen Bird | 30.01.18 - 8:48 p.m. | #

Is anyone planning a new safety announcement : 'Please hold on while the escalator is moving'?

Tom | 30.01.18 - 11:03 p.m. | #

As of today, all of the yellow posters and stickers have been removed from Bank's spiral stairs.

zappomatic | Homepage | 31.01.18 - 1:48 a.m. | #

It doesn't really matter about getting germs on your hands as long as you don't then pick *your* nose, scratch *your* spots etc. before you've washed them...

Sarah | Homepage | 31.01.18 - 8:14 a.m. | #

Are there any TfL escalators leading to the sub-surface lines at Liverpool Street? Surely they should be counted as the Central Line's.

martin | 31.01.18 - 8:24 a.m. | #

@Messiah: There's an interesting BBC clip about the recent bus warning announcements on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09m198x - the item starts at 13m20s.

Tim W | 31.01.18 - 10:05 a.m. | #

Thank goodness I possess common sense and know how to stand correctly on an escalator, otherwise I'd have to read all these signs intently to ensure optimal safe passage.

It's a load of ballcocks, people should be responsible for their own safety and not constantly be reminded not to be a halfwit.

Dave K | 31.01.18 - 10:31 a.m. | #

Surely the distraction of so many signs is likely to become a cause of accidents?

Anonanon... | 31.01.18 - 1:50 p.m. | #

There are already posters up at Green Park telling passengers not to use their phones on the escalator.

No-one seemed to be taking any notice.

Some presumably didn't see them, being on their phones. And others have made our own personal risk assessments, and decided to ignore them.

Ollyver | 31.01.18 - 3:39 p.m. | #

In my much younger, carefree, youth we used to take great delight on the old wooden escalators that with one pull we could stop the handrail entirely and watch everyone un-hold it in unison. Simple pleasures.

It looks to me that LU have lost the plot on this one. Of course a co-ordinated / properly thought-through and designed campaign would be preferable, but it would hugely expensive in consultant fees when budgets are reportedly tight.

And what's with the chewing gum business? Ever noticed how a concentration of gum blobs builds up on the floor before the start of the escalators?. It's almost as if people feel it would be in the interests of safety to discard their gum before stepping on... but miraculously don't need to be badgered about it.

Schooldays Remembered | 31.01.18 - 11:45 p.m. | #

I don't touch escalator handrails with my hands if I can at all avoid it. Too much chance of flu germs. You can always use an elbow if you're wobbly.

Miles Archer | 04.02.18 - 5:45 p.m. | #

Yesterday I saw a variant on the classic "dogs must be carried" theme. My local swimming pool has a notice stating the competent swimmers must supervise two children and two non-swimmers. I blatantly disregarded the notice, as it was a lane-swim session, and no-one of either category was in the pool, let alone a grand total of four.

cau1khead | 20.06.23 - 10:23 a.m. | #











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