ZPXFW Blog

There have been reports that a large part of the population could potentially catch swine flu in the next few days. Transport Union RMT has said that this would impact the availability of the staff and will pose serious risks for the transport system.

Those working in the transport sector are in contact with a large number of people in small places such as vehicles and offices. This increases their chances of catching the swine flu infection.

In a meeting held in Whitehall, the government and emergency departments stated that many businesses in the UK do not have any plans lined up for handling the swine flu epidemic. This is specifically true in case of transport businesses and broadband service providers. An accredited course can benefit your organisation in reviewing your health and safety performance and risk management arrangements; click on IOSH Training for more info.

One of the places where the workers have high chances of getting swine flu is the London Underground. Transport for London has decided to decrease the service in order to cope with the shortage of staff that it is likely to face. RMT however says that this step does not appropriately address the issues relating to safety which may arise due to lesser staff.

RMT general secretary, Bob Crow said that RMT wants to see the strategy which had been outlined in the Whitehall meeting. They want to be present in further meetings in order to address the problems that would arise with the potential reduction in staff.

If the predictions by the experts come true then it could be very dangerous for the transport system owing to the many loopholes in contingency planning, said Crow. He added that the biggest impact will be on London and special attention needs to paid to it.