Whitley Council Employees’ Side secretary, Bernard Moffatt has informed the Manx Herald he believes complacency is now the biggest issue for him to address following the fatal accident, in 2007, involving a DOT worker and a visiting biker.

Dept. of Transport sub-foreman, Brian Tomlinson is facing a manslaughter trial next month and Mr Moffatt says he fears many government workers, and private contractors, are ignoring the fact they could so easily become the next person in the dock.

Mr Moffatt says government workers were expressing serious concerns, following the charging of Mr Tomlinson in May 2008, regarding the level of protection being offered to them; but, as time has passed, this, and Mr Tomlinson’s predicament, is perhaps now being overlooked by these same workers.

Mr Moffatt said it would be “very foolish to forget him” especially as they do not know what is around the corner; and they might find themselves “in the same place” next week.

Mr Moffatt still maintains Mr Tomlinson is being made a scapegoat and people higher up the chain of command are being allowed to dodge their responsibilities for their workers.

He points out there are “very generous supervisory plusages” in place at the DOT “for more senior supervisors and engineers. They are handsomely remunerated”, he added.

However, he claims workers are still being sent out to do jobs without proper risk assessments and with plant and vehicles that have minor defects.

Mr Moffatt expects these shortcomings to be put right, otherwise he suggests workers who have report faults and, if they are not fixed, should refuse to take the plant or vehicle out.

He emphasized he does not want to “stop the function of government” but, as the stakes are so high, he can not rule out a decisive action if these concerns are not addressed.

Mr Moffatt suggests junior supervisors should have their risk assessments checked by more senior management, to ensure they are correct; and in this way it should be possible to avoid “a lot more ‘Brian Tomlinsons’ in front of Deemster Doyle”.

Mr Moffatt is pretty scathing in his views of the ‘justice system’; not least that a worker can be judged by someone who he doubts has done a day’s manual work in his life.

He reminds the public that DOT, and other workers, in bad summers, and even worse winters, are out there clearing debris, clearing floods, gritting roads etc; and that to do so they take risks, in order to make the roads safe for the public to use.

However, in future he says roads will have to be closed, signage will have to be checked by more senior supervisors, and when plant or vehicle defects are discovered for workers to refuse to go out with it – as he doesn’t want any more ‘Brian Tomlinsons’.

Mr Moffatt says the Chief Minister decided to set up a safety committee to address the issues raised by the Tomlinson case but pointed out it had still not yet met. He said they are trying to arrange a meeting for some time this month; but inferred he doesn’t think it is being given the priority it deserves.

He appeared less than impressed by the appointment of DOT Chief Executive, Ian Thompson as Chairman; and says it indicates the Chief Minister thinks it can be narrowly focused on the DOT when it is a cross government issue.

He went on to say it is in fact a wider issue than just one for government and should include the private contractors who also carry out a large amount of road works. He further wondered if workers of private companies would get the same level of support if they ended up in a similar situation to Mr Tomlinson. He doubted it.

Summarizing his concerns, Mr Moffatt said the current system is flawed and unfair, with the people least able to defend themselves carrying the can and the “out and out villains escaping their just desserts”. He suggested “dark forces” are involved in pursing the prosecutions of workers and, in essence, a charge of corporate manslaughter should be available to prosecutors so that management can be held accountable.

He finished by saying he is not wanting to be in contempt of the court it is just that he holds the justice system in contempt.

The Manx Herald followed up this interview with a call to Ian Thompson to get the DOT’s side of the story.

Mr Thompson said, for a start, he absolutely disagrees the work of the ‘Working Group’ is being too narrowly focused with representatives from across government, statutory boards and local authorities being included.

He pointed out he had only been notified in April 2009 of his roll and had immediately written out to the various ‘bodies’ asking for nominations; and that some had only just responded in the last couple of weeks.

He said he could understand the frustration, in some quarters, for the length of time it had taken to get things moving; but the delay was created elsewhere.

Mr Thompson said an awful lot of improvements and progress have been made in health & safety in the last few years; with, among other things, new LED warning lights on vehicles, the use of ‘high viz’ jackets and revised working practises to meet current best practise.

He said the DOT strive to achieve the best possible standards but that it also requires the men on the ground to do their bit, in that they are expected to follow their training.

He pointed out it is in their own best interests to check vehicles and plant before taking it out, which he said is nothing new, and as far as he is aware defects are notified and dealt with as required.

He stated, in respect of private contractors, enforcement of rules and regulations is being pursued; but added that the IOM is not a police state and so he is only expecting people to act “reasonably”.

He said if they do so there should not be a problem for anyone, but it is when they do not act reasonably problems occur; and cited an instance where a private contractor had closed a pavement and directed all pedestrians into the road.

He went on to say the issue requires a ‘partnership’ approach, encompassing properly trained and equipped workers who then carry out their duties in accordance with their training and operational procedures.

He felt everybody involved should know what their obligations are and operate accordingly, and if a manual doesn’t exist for certain issues then perhaps, if appropriate, one could be produced. However, he gave the impression he wants to avoid becoming over prescriptive and bureaucratic but believes personal responsibility is required at all levels.

He did comment though that he believed the motive for Mr Moffatt speaking out now is part of a campaign to have the law changed to introduce a corporate manslaughter charge; and perhaps he was not far from the mark.

Returning to the work of the ‘new’ H&S group, he explained COMIN had agreed a 9 point plan and that they were to develop recommendations and report back within 3 months. Some of the areas to be covered include communication and consultation.

COMIN approved the setting up of the ‘Officer Working Group’ at its March 2009 meeting; having “agreed that Government had a responsibility for health and safety to its employees”.

Following on from our conversation with Mr Thompson the Manx Herald also contacted the IOM Employers Federation and spoke to Steve Woodward.

Having informed him of some of Mr Moffatt’s concerns he was asked if the Federation had taken any specific action following the Tomlinson incident or the Island Drainage & Groundworks’ case.

He said he could not recall the cases being raised at any executive meeting but explained the Federation has been involved with the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI) and IOHS in regards to training on signage and safety for road works earlier in 2009. A scheme involving a ‘Plant Skill’s Card’ is also operated by members he said.

He added the latest executive meeting is to discuss the licensing of Heavy Goods Vehicles and the servicing of vehicles; and he believed this is indicative that the Federation and its members are taking proper precautions with regards to health & safety matters.

He suggested we contact Colas to acquire a further insight into how a major private contractor, involved in a lot of road works, operates.

We did indeed act on this suggestion and spoke to John Kelly.

He explained all their crews are trained to street works standards and they also operate signage in accordance with industry standards. The company itself operates, he said, to 18001 health & safety standard.

Colas did conduct a review of procedures and risk assessments following the incidents but there had been no particular outcome; as their current review procedures had been adequate to address the issues involved.

In essence, it came across that Colas believe they are operating to an appropriate standard and they have no particular concerns in this area.

The Manx Herald would, therefore, be pleased to receive comments from readers as to whether they consider road works are being adequately signed and carried out safely. Furthermore, we would be pleased to hear from workers if they believe they are still being put at risk doing their job and especially if they are operating plant and vehicles with defects that have been reported but not fixed.

Finally, the Manx Herald is happy to remind drivers to drive slowly and considerately through road works, otherwise the chances are more roads will have to be closed, to protect workers, thus potentially causing more disruption and inconvenience to the responsible majority of road users.