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Spanish train driver cops bad press for standing up for safety

Oct 19, 2016News
A Spanish train driver left his post mid-route this week because he reached the legal limit on the number of hours he could work. In Spain the legal shift length is set at six hours straight to prevent fatigue and avoid accidents.
The incident left 100 passengers stranded and made the international newsNews.com.au labelled the driver the ‘worst train driver ever’ in their original headline for the article.
A spokesperson from the Semaf train drivers union said “it is not because he decided to leave to go home,” and pointed out that there was no other driver available to take over.
It’s extremely unfair that the driver in question has copped a lot of slack for simply standing up for his safety and the safety of commuters and sticking to the rules. After all, safety should ALWAYS come first.
What would have happened if the driver had of kept driving and there had been an incident? The employer, press and government would have blamed the driver for exceeding the six hour limit.
Instead of attacking the driver, he should be commended for making the safety of passengers and the system his priority.
Here in Australia we are seeing in Australia both passenger and freight employers asking and expecting drivers to exceed shift limits as a result of staff cuts, cutting rostered relief from rosters, relying on overtime and simply displaying their inability to properly manage rosters.
Maximum shift limits should always be enforced as safety should never be compromised irrespective of management KPIs and failure to manage.
What would you have done in that situation? Let us know by leaving a comment.

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