Why are we still not able to post in The "Rail news" thread?

[AussiePaul]

Some time ago I wanted to post about a cyanide spill in western Qld.
I thought it was significant Rail News but I couldn't post it in that fourum topic.
I posted it in General trainz and it was moved by a mod and he commented that even he didn't understand why we couldn't post there.
I assumed it was probably just an oversight and it would be corrected.
Now I have another "Rail News" event I would like to share with my fellow Trainzers and I find I still am unable to post it in the Rail News thread.


A Queensland Rail whistleblower has been the subject of disciplinary action for exposing the unsafe behaviour of a colleague.

The female train driver was a co-driver on The Spirit of the Outback taking passengers to Longreach.

At a point in the journey, her male co-driver inexplicably climbed out of the driver's cabin onto the bonnet of the train.

The female driver took photographs of the incident on her mobile phone and reported his behaviour to Queensland Rail management.

The male driver was dismissed as a result but the female driver who reported it also faced disciplinary action for using her mobile phone in the driver's cabin.

Story including pictures Here

 

[wholbr]

Hi everybody.
PAUL, being that no one has responded to your enquiry as to why no one can post in the rail News section of the forum, I can only say that most real life rail news postings are normally placed in the "prototype talk" section where a reasonable response is most often found to interesting postings placed there.

In regards to the disciplinary action taken against the Whistleblower by Queensland Rail, can I say that in the coarse of my work I have often attended company disciplinary hearings here in the UK in the role of advising the employer carrying out the disciplinary action where it has involved breaches of safety regulations in the workplace.

I do not know if employees confronted with a disciplinary hearing by their employer in Australia are allowed to be accompanied and represented by another person at the hearing as they are here in the UK, with that person being known as the "formal companion". However, the defence I would have expected to hear from the employee or the representative would have been that the employee under discipline used her camera to capture the incident of the driver climbing onto the front of the locomotive so as to provide evidence of the event occurring. Had she not had done so in reporting the incident it would have been just her word against the word of the co-driver who obviously may have tried to state that the incident did not occur.

The above would have been her obvious defence as in fact it is exactly what occurred. It would have been very difficult faced with that defence for any employer to justify serious disciplinary action being taken against the whistleblowing employee and certainly here in the UK no industrial Court would side with the employer in the above circumstances.

The only thing I can think for queensland rail taking such harsh action would be if the employee posted her photos on a social media website. Many employers here in Britain take very severe action against employees who speak of events in their company or speak of work colleagues by name on social media sites as that most definitely will not be tolerated. Many company employees " come to grief" by believing that whatever they do in there off work time can have no effect whatever on their employment. I am afraid that the foregoing is not so, and employers taking action in such circumstances have been upheld any number of times by industrial tribunals here in the UK.

Of course we cannot be sure if the above was the case with the whistleblower in this incident. However, there surely must be more than was reported by the press in regards to this incident. If not then Queensland Rail needs to be taken to the industrial Court by the employee so as real Justice can be gained by her, if that action can be taken in Australia at the disaplinery level of a written warning.

Bill

 

[clam1952]

AussiePaul,
You might want to check with the help desk that your permissions for Rail News are correct, I have as posted below which is what you should have.

• You may post new threads
• You may post replies
• You may not post attachments
• You may edit your posts

 

[SandTigerUK]

I guess the pix entered the public domain somewhere along the line...

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/que...for-dobbing-in-colleague-20160219-gmykwm.html

 

[shaneturner12]

AussiePaul,
You might want to check with the help desk that your permissions for Rail News are correct, I have as posted below which is what you should have.

I'm guessing you've gained permissions in that case for the Rail News forum - I cannot create any new threads in there but I can reply to existing ones.

Shane

 

[SandTigerUK]

I had to laugh...

"Safety is Queensland Rail's No.1 priority and the actions taken by the employees involved are entirely unacceptable," he said in a statement.

"There is a strict policy which states that drivers are prohibited from using mobile devices in the driver's cabin.

"Whilst the employee who used their phone did the right thing in reporting the incident, they were issued a warning for using an inappropriate way to do so."

The Australian Federated Union of Locomotive Employees has threatened to take Queensland Rail to the fair work commission if they don't rescind the disciplinary action.

"The bizarre thing about it is Queensland Rail have a policy if you fail to report a safety incident you can be severely disciplined and have your employment terminated," AFULE's Greg Smith said.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/que...-colleague-20160219-gmykwm.html#ixzz40eG7BLfO
Follow us: @brisbanetimes on Twitter | brisbanetimes on Facebook
​

 

[pware]

We in the Southern states (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania - heck throw in all the other states) used to consider Queensland to be about 100 years behind everyone else. They have made a lot of progress in recent years since the fall of a particular political dynasty that was a laughing stock, but clearly not enough progress in every area.

Looking at the "Rail News" forum, I note that the Create New Thread option is not there for me as well. The last new thread is dated July 21st 2013 - so maybe someone (a moderator??) simply neglected to "set a switch" or "got bored" with what was being posted there.

 

[AussiePaul]

Hi everyone, I don't know anything more than what I read in the Brisbane times, so I'm completely unaware if the pics were posted to twitter or any other social media.
I have made a personal decision to not establish a presence on those social media sites.
I am a member of several forums.
I always have an email address available and usually I have the forum rules set so as to allow members to PM me.
I see no reason for other social media
(This is MY choice. I accept it is different to many others)
I must admit to being occasionally slightly frustrated when something is available only on Facebook for example, but I just get over it.


Malc, my thread permissions are

• You may not post new threads
• You may post replies
• You may not post attachments
• You may not edit your posts.

I'll lodge a report with the help desk... but it appears that the issue is with more than just me.
All the best,
Paul

 

[AussiePaul]

We in the Southern states (New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania - heck throw in all the other states) used to consider Queensland to be about 100 years behind everyone else. They have made a lot of progress in recent years since the fall of a particular political dynasty that was a laughing stock, but clearly not enough progress in every area.

Yeah... injustices are never committed in NSW... it HAS to be because they are so progressive!!

Even if they can't play Rugby League.

(For those that don't know.... last year they won their first competition in 9 years in the yearly competition that is played between us each year, in "Friendly" rivalry!