Sacked Lymington stationmaster Ian Faletto will continue to fight for his job

I don’t really want to go over this whole topic again but the article below has some new elements that I feel need to be commented on.  My comments are in bold text throughout the article.

Source: Bournemouth Daily Echo

HE may have been sacked from his beloved job, but Ian Faletto is still fighting. Despite the prospect of a messy battle with his former employer South West Trains, the award-winning employee, buoyed by community support, has said he will continue to fight for his job at Lymington railway station.

Mr Faletto, 49, was sacked by the company for removing a shopping trolley that had been dumped on the line near the station.  Mr Faletto  was dismissed for breaching safety critical rules, not for removing the trolley.

The dismissal prompted a campaign and a 6,500-name petition led by the Rev Alex Russell and thousands of others including New Forest MP Desmond Swayne calling for him to be reinstated.

Mr Faletto said he has been overwhelmed by the response. “I never realised I was so popular or so highly regarded or thought of.”

Referring to his dismissal, he said: “I was shocked they were making an issue out of what had happened.  Shocked about an issue being made about breaching safety rules and putting his own life at risk.  Train Operating Companies ALWAYS inform employees about safety rules and what happens if they are breached.

“I had done my damnedest to prevent a rail accident. I know of people that have done similar things and it has not been a problem.  I was acting in good faith.”  “Prevent a Rail Accident”.  The line speed at Lymington is reported as being 20-25mph, this at most would have caused superficial damage to the train and would not have caused a derailment as previously stated by Mr Faletto.  

But despite the high-profile controversy, he still hopes to return to his job.

“I love it. Every day is different. I love meeting different people and dealing with different things. Also the fact that I am doing something – I like to be doing something all the time.  At the moment I’m trying to find things to do. It’s hard.”

SWT have said the facts of the case are ‘fundamentally different to the picture that has been painted to date’.

A company spokesman added: “We are ready to ensure the full facts are made public at an employment tribunal and would defend our position vigorously if required.”  Southwest Trains have acted superbly in their way of dealing with the press as a result of this incident.  They are not mud slinging in public and have preferred not to comment until any legal action is launched.

But Mr Faletto said: “Everything I have said is true. I think they will try to throw back anything they can to defend themselves.”  Or perhaps they will reveal facts that have not been previously reported that show that Mr Faletto is indeed at fault, there may even be evidence of previous breaches by Mr Faletto.

After 27 years on the railway, Ian has amassed a rather impressive collection of trophies and awards, testifying to his commitment and outstanding service.

The former ticket office clerk has also invested his own money in the improvements, buying sweets for the waiting room, paint for the floors, carpets, heaters and even putting his own Christmas tree there.  Is it me or do the press seem to be making an awful lot about this “generosity” as if it excuses what Mr Faletto has done?

As a response to the article, a reader posted the following comment:-

MJD, HAMWORTHY says…
10:56am Mon 23 May 11
Yes he broke the rules, as he did not have a permit to go on the road. Now look at it another way SWT. Daily Echo Head lines. 30 killed in Lymington train disaster as SWT staff couldn’t be bothered to remove shopping trolley from the Road due to not having a permit ???? Health and safety gone mad.

This comment shows once again how sensationalistic the general public can be.  The likelihood of disaster is ZERO!! The only person at risk of death or injury was Mr Faletto himself for not following established procedure.  It is not the fact that staff cannot be bothered, there are strict procedures that MUST be followed.  If those procedures were not followed, everyone could just jump down on the tracks and a lot more fatalities would result.

As usual, the UK press grab hold of a story and try and sensationalise everything about it to have a dig at the railways.  I always thought that the UK press was Impartial but once again they act whilst only havig one side of the story.  I honestly hope that an employment tribunal is called for this case and that Southwest Trains get the opportunity to present their evidence in an impartial setting, then perhaps this case can be laid to bed.

Stationmaster SACKED for leaping onto tracks and pulling trolley out of path of oncoming trains

Original Source: Daily Mail

A dedicated station master has been sacked after 27 years working for the same company – for pulling a shopping trolley off the track.

Ian Faletto jumped onto the line at Lymington Pier train station, Hants, and pulled the obstacle back onto the platform after it was chucked on by yobs.

He was dismissed for ‘a serious breach of safety’ by heartless South West Trains for his act of bravery, which prevented a crash with oncoming trains.

Ian, who managed Lymington Town, Lymington Pier, Ashurst and Beaulieu Road stations, spent hundreds of pounds a year of his own money on flowers for the four stations he looked after, went in on his days off to man them and provided free sweets and jigsaws for passengers.

And the 49-year-old – who wore a buttonhole to work and even spent his own money having carpets and heaters installed in his stations – was said to be furious at the decision.

‘What I did prevented an accident,’ he said.

‘I saw the trolley on the line at Lymington Pier, got power turned off and managed to remove it before the first train arrived that morning.

‘I can’t believe they have sacked me after all I have done for them.

‘I have gone in on days off and spent thousands of pounds of my own money making the stations the best they can be.

‘I don’t know how how I am going to get by now – because I was sacked I have lost my mortgage protection and my pension.

‘I will have to find a way, but the trains are all I know.’ Ian, who is taking South West Trains to a tribunal, has had a flood of support from passengers who are signing a petition to get him reinstated.

Petition organiser Reverend Alex Russell, 52, said, ‘He always went the extra mile for passengers.  “No one has ever had a bad word to say about him. People have been driving miles to come to the station just to sign my petition.

‘He has been sacked for breach of Health and Safety but there is an exception rule if it is an emergency.

‘I would have thought stopping an accident on a railway track is an emergency.

‘His life is ruined. He has worked for the railways for 27 years and has nothing else.’

Ian, from Southampton, worked at nearby Sway station for 15 years, where he won several awards, before moving to Lymington.

Just ten weeks after he transferred in 2006 Lymington was named the most improved station in the region.

But his perfect track record did not stop South West Trains giving him the sack.

A South West Trains spokesman said: “We can confirm that an employee has been dismissed for a serious breach of safety.

‘All our employees are aware of the importance of complying with the strict rules governing railway safety, which we have a duty to enforce.’

Comment: Unfortunately the media have done their usual fine job of rushing to get a story to print and therefore there is a lot of information missing from this article.  On the ‘facts’ presented it would seem that Southwest Trains have acted harshly in their treatment of Mr Faletto but there are questions that needed to be asked that obviously weren’t.

When you begin work on the railways, your job description falls under two distinct headings.  Safety Critical and Non Safety Critical.  Safety Critical staff (Train Drivers, Guards, Track Workers, Train Dispatchers) all undergo stringent training which leads to them being issued with a Personal Track Safety (PTS) Card.  This is basically to say that they have been trained to access the track safely and are aware of the way they are expected to act.

Non Safety Critical staff (Revenue Staff, Booking Office Staff, Customer Service Staff, Etc.) are not required to access the tracks or have any input into the operations side of the railway and therefore do not possess PTS cards.

Every time I have attended an induction course for a Train Operating Company (TOC), the message is hammered home that as Non Safety Critical staff, you do not access the track for ANY reason.  This is due to the fact that no training is given in track safety.  The correct procedure is for the member of staff to immediately contact the signalman using a post telephone or other means to inform of the blockage/casualty, this will allow the signalman to set signals to danger and arrange for power supply to the track to be switched off (where appropriate).  The procedure then calls for someone who is PTS trained to access the track and deal with the situation.

EVERY TOC I have worked for has been VERY explicit in the fact that they all declared that any non safety critical staff who access the tracks will face severe disciplinary action (normally dismissal) and some will even call for prosecution.

With this in mind, the original story now seems to have been vastly blown out of all proportion and, if Mr Faletto was indeed Non Safety Critical, then Southwest Trains have acted properly and the matter should be allowed to drop.  If, however Mr Faletto is a PTS card holder then there is obviously something else going on that needs further analysis.