UNTRAINED STAFF DISCONNECTING & CONNECTING OHL BONDS

Our ref: HSR

Head Office Circular NP/170/25

3rd October 2025

To: ALL NETWORK RAIL MEMBERS

 

 

Dear Colleague

 

UNTRAINED STAFF DISCONNECTING & CONNECTING OHL BONDS

 

Your RMT Safety Representatives & members on the Eastern Region have raised concerns around undertaking traction bonding activities, primarily the removal and reattachment of bonding within rerailing work sites (this includes any temporary bonding arrangements). 

 

This activity should only be undertaken by trained, competent staff holding the required elements of NR/L2/ELP/CTM014 OLE 5 or OLEC 3 (CTM028). 

 

RMT believes that any member not holding this competence would be in breach of Network Rail’s Life Saving Rules and, furthermore, would put themselves at increased unnecessary risk. 

 

I remind members of your rights under the company’s Work Safe Procedure and in legislation (Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996): should you be asked to undertake this activity, you should remove yourself to a place of safety if you feel you are in serious and imminent danger and not to work if you believe your safety is compromised. I refer you also to RMT’s booklet on Serious and Imminent Danger, which can be viewed at:

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/publications/serious-and-imminent-danger-booklet/.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Eddie Dempsey

General Secretary