Quality of railway staff uniforms

[Gwiwer]

Uniforms are designed to impart the company image and in many cases also serve as protective layers over (or in place of) our own daily clothing.  To this extent the uniform should be fit for purpose, weatherproof where required and robust.  That doesn't stop it being comfortable to wear.

 

There is a societal shift towards casual attire and a casual, sometimes lackadaisical, attitude to work and to anyone with whom one comes into contact thereat.  The number of smartly-uniformed staff on front-line customer-facing duties has significantly diminished over the years and not just through cuts.

 

I have spent much of my working life in uniforms though by no means all of them railway.  Some have been good, comfortable and very serviceable.  Many have been at best rough and ready, an average-to-poor fit and not something one could comfortably take a pride in when it came to appearance.

 

Uniform is a huge cost to any operator, possibly second only to recruitment and training in terms of budget required.  And still many of us get less than what we feel is a minimum practical issue.  How, for example, does one manage when only two pairs of trousers are the entitlement yet one is expected to present oneself day in day out in a freshly laundered and pressed pair while the other (hopefully) gets washed, dried and ironed in any spare moment we might have.  I'm not talking the five-day week here either because most of us will know that railway (and, come to that, bus / coach) shift patterns often require nine, ten or even more consecutive days work.  

 

The operator will want to have uniforms supplied as cheaply as possible.  Some seem more aware than others of the need to offer staff something comfortable and appropriate.  In general terms the better the uniform the better the staff will feel wearing it, the better their appearance and the more pride they may take in both appearance and their role.  Footplate crew would of course get filthy in steam days.  That was the job.  But at the same time station staff would be sent home if not wearing full and presentable uniform with a polished cap badge and boots.  The general shift away from having a Station Master responsible for his (very rarely her) domain in every respect to multiple tiers of managers has probably done little to help the overall slip in standards.  It seems no-one's job is to remind the staff of he need to dress as per the uniform standards they have probably signed their name against.

 

Currently my employer offers me, for an outdoor all-weather safety-critical role, five shirts of which three are short-sleeved, two pairs of trousers and a tie.  An anorak is provided for inclement weather and a jacket for better days.  But no jumper, body-warmer or fleeced garment of any kind.  We wear our own as required, though it is expected that they will be as close to company colours as possible and if reasonable worn beneath other items.  So in winter I wear my own jumper beneath the uniform shirt!  Shirts and trousers are very thin, offer no protection against wind, rain or cold and are in my opinion barely fit for purpose.  And while it's fine to criticise the regular change of franchises for an inconsistent and sometimes slovenly appearance it is worth remembering that in my case this uniform was specified by the previous franchisee who had run the job since privatisation.  The new people, installed over a year ago now, show no signs of issuing any new uniforms any time soon.  We had a new tie.  And new beanie hats last winter.  Wow.  But that's it.  Nothing since except having our measurements taken many months ago now.  

 

I believe that saving money on uniforms is a false saving.  Giving a little extra in quality and quantity will cost more - possibly a lot more - but if your staff feel comfortable and possibly even happy at work then this readily shows to all others they encounter from workmates to customers and that all-important group the prospective customer who may make value judgements on whether to travel by rail based upon appearance of and interaction with the first staff they meet.  The days of jacket ant tie are not numbered.  Though the requirement for a Station Master to wear a bowler or top hat have indeed passed.

[jjb1970]

I think appearance does matter. Hypocrite alert as I go through life looking like some sort of old tramp that's just been pulled through a hedge backwards but I think there are very good arguments in favour of uniforms and dress codes for the work place (and in schools). Does a smartly presented member of staff guarantee high levels of service? No, of course not. However, when I look at high performing businesses, excellent shops, restaurants etc there is a recurring factor that they tend to take how they present themselves very seriously and I've found that uniforms foster a sense of identity and pride in what people do. I haven't worn a uniform for years but I am subject to quite a strict dress code, if I didn't like it I always have the option of going to do something else. However, uniforms need to be fit for purpose and comfortable. As an aside a recurring whinge I get from cruise ship operators is it is increasingly difficult to recruit younger European and North American hotel service and entertainment staff because of the resistance to dress codes and the prevalence of visible tattoos as most of them retain a policy of no visible tattoos. That policy may be right or wrong but from the operators perspective it doesn't matter as their clientele demands certain standards which they're expected to meet.

[rockershovel]

I’m certain that the huge increase of casual and contract working, is a major contribution to the problem. Nothing spells out more clearly, that your employer has no interest in you, particularly when combined with requirements for training or certification, or other expenses which necessarily come out of your own pocket and may not be on offer at all.

 

I can’t think of a more effective way of encouraging a disaffected, lackadaisical attitude in return. I don’t argue that this tends to exist anyway, but it certainly doesn’t help in the least.

[rockershovel]

As an aside, I get issued with quite a lot of employer-coded PPE, in the nature of things. Quality varies considerably, but as it is mostly intended for use in extreme all-weathers conditions, and much of it is flame-retardant or other high spec, it’s usually pretty good.

 

One thing I have been quite impressed with at my current position, is the lightweight, soft-feel fleece jacket, printed with company logo that are handed out. I can’t vouch for its durability, but it is certainly a very practical and popular piece of kit - smart enough to wear with a shirt and tie, formal enough to wear on supplier visits and warm and light enough to wear under coveralls.

[The Stationmaster]

And I got told off for wearing jeans on mp12! , it wasn't by you mind think it was Bob hall who asked me if I'd been dressed by Stevie Wonder.

Mind had tight jeans a white T-shirt and white boots with a lightweight jacket..... And a mullet but it was the 80s

 

You're probably too young to remember issue jeans as part of the footplate uniform - they ceased to be supplied with the change to the new uniform in the mid/late 1960s and whether you, or anybody else, would call those baggy things 'jeans' is a different matter entirely but they were officially part of the 'jeans jacket and trousers' steam era issue for footplatemen.

[Boris]

You're probably too young to remember issue jeans as part of the footplate uniform - they ceased to be supplied with the change to the new uniform in the mid/late 1960s and whether you, or anybody else, would call those baggy things 'jeans' is a different matter entirely but they were officially part of the 'jeans jacket and trousers' steam era issue for footplatemen.

Didn't some of them have a rivet in just the right place to get hot and burn ones bollucks?

[The Johnster]

I disagree with some of you about the purpose of uniforms; they are not, in my view, primarily intended to project the company's image or impose a level of 'smartness' a subjective concept anyway, on staff.  Their origin is military, and, apart from distinguishing who are the people you are supposed to be killing from those who you are not supposed to be killing, are used to determine who is who and whose orders are to be obeyed, in other words the chain of command, in battlefield situations when there is no time to ask or explain the situation.  Their roots are in the 'liveries' worn by medieval soldiers, who were mostly peasants who owed military duty to their lords.  They wore their own gear, but the lord provided the weapons and a liveried tabard to identify them.  

 

Their main function in the workplace, and for our purposes on the railway, is exactly the same, to the extent that some railway grades that did not require uniforms found it necessary to uniformise themselves for operational convenience in bowler hats, to Stationmaster's apparent embarrassment, though a sturdy bowler is ideal for the situation.  Railways involve staff moving about to locations where they are not known by sight, so a means has to be deployed of identifying themselves as drivers, guards, ticket inspectors etc away from locations where everybody knew them; uniforms are ideal for this.

 

A brand identity is a somewhat different thing; I know that the person behind the counter in the bank is a bank teller because he/she's sitting behind a counter in a bank, so why does he/she have to be dressed the same as the one behind the next counter.  But bank staff are increasingly 'front of house' and have to be distinguished from the great unwashed.  A badge or tabard is sufficient in this situation, but there seems to be a whole industry now dedicated to 'brand awareness' that projects the logo and colours in a precisely controlled way in all situations, in the name of company 'image', while contributing exactly zilch to profitability, efficiency, or anything else.  But the shareholders are impressed by the image; they are the real targets of this exercise in smoke and mirrors. and seem easily fooled by bright, shiny paint jobs, logos, uniforms as such, the bolder and brighter the better! 

 

If I were to set up a business front for any fraudulent or mendacious purpose, such as an investment scam, I'd go to great lengths to make it look as if there was enough money floating about to spend on this sort of nonsense.  It's a bit like the shares George Hudson issued in never built railways, or those for the Darien project a century earlier that bankrupted Scotland; very impressive!

 

Hi-viz, protective, or foul weather gear is slightly different, and comes under the category of equipment as much as clothing.  I once worked for a firm of industrial cleaners stripping asbestos in an NBC suit; I did not regard this as a uniform!  What I regarded it as would trip the foul language filter, but it wasn't uniform, just a very unpleasant and productivity reducing necessity as anyone who has ever had to do heavy physical work in one will testify.

 

All of the above is my opinion, no more, and nobody has to agree with, accept, or be influenced by it; I'd much prefer you to make up your own minds...

[rockershovel]

I’m not going to quote the above post, because of its length, but the wearing of uniforms for functional identification is alive and well in a number of industries and sectors.

 

The offshore oil industry works like this. There is a general, compulsory PPE element, but there are also widespread practices of wearing company overalls and colours, or colour-coded hard hats to identify visitors, new starters, visiting “service hands”, Client Reps, and various other groups among a rapidly-changing workforce who often, don’t know each other and may not necessarily have a common language.

[Hobby]

apart from distinguishing who are the people you are supposed to be killing from those who you are not supposed to be killing,

 

Puts a whole new perspective on things... As 90% or our delays are caused by other TOCs, Freight Operators or NR I'll have to bear this in mind in future and point out anyone passing on the train in the appropriate uniform and leave them to the mercy (or not) of the passengers...

Edited October 9, 2018 by Hobby

[Steamport Southport]

To be honest I couldn't care what the staff was wearing as long as it's identifiable as a staff uniform, clean and safe. Polo shirts and fleeces for most staff is sufficient IMO. Black trousers or a smart skirt if the woman wants to wear one.

 

 

 

 

 

Jason

[Gwiwer]

Even the wearing of hi-viz PPE or to convey the message that “I am important” is a diluted message when the gear itself is consistent in neither branding nor message.

 

Again in my own scenario some of us wear yellow and others orange, some of which are branded with the previous and some with the current franchisee’s name. And some are unbranded.

 

The “function” also does not necessarily relate to the task being undertaken. Some state “Platform Assisstant”, some “Customer Service”, some “Train despatch” (and within that batch some are spelled “Dispatch”) while others are again mysteriously anonymous

 

It gains no credit and arguably increases risk when such things occur. For example a dispatcher (or despatcher) wearing a vest suggesting “Customer Service” will attract more questions from the public which detracts from safe train despatch.

 

These things need addressing. But in a world where no-one has any direct responsibility for what staff are issued / wear then my hands are wrung in despair.

[Robert Shrives]

Hi 

What a great thread ! I agree with all of it and disagree with all of it in equal measure.

 

I can add that I still wear 1994 issued uniform - with pleasure. At the recent ACORP awards in Glasgow I wore my 1994 BR traffic shirt and tie. It was noticed ! Utterly  bomb proof and still have some in packages. Trousers have had new pocket liners but are as issued.

The 1984 great coat is just that - wet warning are true! - you could almost lift feet off the floor and the coat would hold you up.

Hats - well it got me 15 minutes overtime every day at Saltey. Walk across New st concourse wearing my trainman hat would ensure being stopped and asked to dispense platform information and in line with training you took the lost passenger to the platform required, thus missing the booked train to Duddeston - simples !! As a 6 foot plus guard the hat helped in low doorways as a slight tap made me duck. When talking to the public we were taught as a mark of deference to remove the hat.

A spare hat was donated to a school in Perry Barr for the dress up box and was reported as always in use by budding drivers ! Today as a bald coot I do wear hats to keep warm. The preserved railways revel in hats and on Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland we have vintage hats, bowlers, kepi(-if that is how you spell it) french style and for Highdays and hols I have Top hat that is around 90 years old.   Whatever the hat we get photographed by many because of it - novelty perhaps, but comments about being seen, old charm and standards maintained etc and plain smart compared to current rail uniforms is a recurrent theme.

 

My employer suffered a bargain buy - drivers jackets with self detaching pockets- all had to be replaced. Shirts and blouses with a very low thread count- not quite sheer but not far off and poorly sown did not last long.    

 

My last thought on long levity is a 1970s "Laker Airways" railway shirt - BR arrows patch sown over LA logo - still worn nuclear bomb proof, easy iron, stiff collar and buttons still with good thread.  "They don`t make`m like that any more !"

 

Value and purpose of uniforms  well discussed. Having found an NEC security jacket and worn this you can just wave and smile.  A B&Q orange jacket still in use -after a stint in store, but finding DHL and Royal mail orange jackets in the street does show the security risk now available....

 

Robert                      

[PM47079]

We are getting new black polo shirts and sweatshirts soon as part of the rebrand. The Americans have been quite generous with the safety gear proper gloves and I just picked up a set of new dewalt boots.

[Steamport Southport]

I've still got a Consignia uniform somewhere. Never wore it or any of the other RM uniforms I was issued with over the years I worked for them. Just wore jeans and T shirts as I was indoors.

 

It also stopped numbskulls stopping you in the street asking where their Giro was.... 

 

I always wore the boots/shoes though. You used to get a decent pair of Doc Martens.

 

 

 

 

Jason

[brianusa]

Similar situations occur elsewhere  especially in air lines. Only the captain and FO look anything like they should, cabin staff can be old, overweight and depending on the uniform, sometimes downright dowdy.  Compare to the 'good old days', not so long ago, when flight attendants were all younger, attractive, attentive and looked the part.  Pursers, usually male and older seemed to keep the calm as there were rarely the disturbances found on airlines today.  The eastern airlines still do keep a more formal approach to uniforms and it shows!.

 

Brian.

[Talltim]

I never understand dress down days. If it doesn’t matter what you wear on a Friday (or whatever) what does it matter what you wear on other days?

[Steamport Southport]

I never understand dress down days. If it doesn’t matter what you wear on a Friday (or whatever) what does it matter what you wear on other days?

 

You could take that further and go to work in your pyjamas like some places do on Comic Relief Day.

 

 

 

Jason

[Steamport Southport]

Similar situations occur elsewhere  especially in air lines. Only the captain and FO look anything like they should, cabin staff can be old, overweight and depending on the uniform, sometimes downright dowdy.  Compare to the 'good old days', not so long ago, when flight attendants were all younger, attractive, attentive and looked the part.  Pursers, usually male and older seemed to keep the calm as there were rarely the disturbances found on airlines today.  The eastern airlines still do keep a more formal approach to uniforms and it shows!.

 

Brian.

 

They are still mostly attractive young females in the UK and Europe.

 

I definitely wouldn't argue with any of them though. They look like they can take care of themselves.

 

 

 

Jason

[Hobby]

I can't understand the need to keep old uniforms, I couldn't wait to get rid of the red virgin ones!

[woodenhead]

But did he serve you promptly, correctly, efficiently, and courteously, Woods; that would be the only thing that mattered to me, not his appearance or dress.  I have a rather unkempt middle aged lady cashier in my local branch, who is fat and ugly to boot, but she always serves me cheerfully and properly; I rather like her!

 

At the risk of incurring Stationmaster's wrath, I used to avoid wearing my guard's hat whenever I could get away with it, and claimed it was not necessary indoors or aboard the train.  I hated the thing; it made my hair stick out like Ken Dodd's.  Got into trouble a few times over it...

 

No!  I had gone into my old bank to get a new debit card because my old one had expired whilst the account had been dormant following the last disagreement when after 30 years of banking with them they suggested in a meeting I might not be who I said i was.  Anyway, I wanted an account to link to Paypal so I was back.  He told me he couldn't order the card and i needed to book a meeting (in 2 weeks time) at a bigger branch nearby or go into the centre of Manchester.  Neither of these statement were correct, luckily his colleague knew how to operate the screen and she ordered my card which arrived a few days later.  I used to work for a bank, when I started I couldn't even leave my desk without putting on a jacket, we all wore suits, how times change.

 

Are you sure he wasn't robbing the place? Did he take your cash, for instance?

 

Best, Pete.

Maybe he was, he didn't seem to be able to operate the PC in front of him.  

[mdvle]

Similar situations occur elsewhere  especially in air lines. Only the captain and FO look anything like they should, cabin staff can be old, overweight and depending on the uniform, sometimes downright dowdy.  Compare to the 'good old days', not so long ago, when flight attendants were all younger, attractive, attentive and looked the part.

Says the male who presumably has never had to work under the discriminatory work conditions that the female cabin staff used to be subject to.  Needless to say I don't think very many of the cabin staff back then thought they were living the "good old days"

 

[Pan Am's requirements in the past were under the age of 32, unmarried, no children, and under 130 lbs, and apparently (no surprise) their staff averaged only 18 months on the job]. https://heatherpoole.com/2011/06/07/height-weight-and-age-requirements-for-flight-attendants-and-why-christina-ricci-could-never-be-a-pan-am-stewardess/

 

[Steamport Southport]

Says the male who presumably has never had to work under the discriminatory work conditions that the female cabin staff used to be subject to.  Needless to say I don't think very many of the cabin staff back then thought they were living the "good old days"

 

[Pan Am's requirements in the past were under the age of 32, unmarried, no children, and under 130 lbs, and apparently (no surprise) their staff averaged only 18 months on the job]. https://heatherpoole.com/2011/06/07/height-weight-and-age-requirements-for-flight-attendants-and-why-christina-ricci-could-never-be-a-pan-am-stewardess/

 

 

It all depends on your point of view. That blog is looking at things from today's perceptive rather than from the time.

 

 

 

If you were talking about the 1960s when a woman's lot was to try and find a decent husband to look after them, then I would have thought that an air hostess would have a better chance than the majority. Travel the world and meet rich men? I bet most women at the time would jump at the chance. They probably didn't last long as they found the man of their dreams. Possibly a pilot, business man or film star.

 

Maybe their children will grow up to marry the second in line to the throne....

 

Far better than working in a typing pool or factory, and marrying Joe Bloggs and having six kids, which was the best most young women would have got out of life.

 

 

 

Jason

[CovDriver]

The title of this thread has tickled me slightly I mean the the quality of railway uniforms atleast some TOC's have a uniform we are still in the old Londonmidland uniform even though we've been West Midlands Trains for the best part of 10 months now and it's on it's last legs now we had been told that originally it would be August for delivery of the new uniform but its late and now December I'm personally embarrassed to be with this lot to be honest.

And this new uniform well we still dont know if our depot is going to be LNWR (green) or West Mids (orange).

There are many things I'd like to say but not wise to.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

[rockershovel]

Regarding air hostesses, some of them were pretty ruthless career girls.. I nearly married one, but didn’t as things turned out. One of life’s might-have-been...

 

Scandinavian internal services often have cabin crew in their forties and fifties, as long as they are fit for their duties I don’t see the issue. They tend to be well turned out, too.

 

BA have a definite issue with a fairly small number of “legacy” staff who are clinging on for their pensions and haven’t moved on (to roles in service management or HR, mostly). I was on a flight a while ago which included a stewardess who was plain fat. Now, I’m notably less than athletic in appearance, but I do have a full Offshore Survival certificate and medical, and I’m not paid to worry about anyone but myself if things DO go sour. Nor do I have to negotiate the quite narrow aisles and galleys, except to board and disembark.

[Rugd1022]

We are getting new black polo shirts and sweatshirts soon as part of the rebrand. The Americans have been quite generous with the safety gear proper gloves and I just picked up a set of new dewalt boots.

 

Unfortunately for me the new gloves are useless, even the smallest size is too big, if I wear them when climbing on or off a loco they get stuck behind the handrails and my hands slide out backwards, not what you want when clinging onto the side of a 66! I had the same problem with the earlier issue suede gloves, utterley useless they were.

 

Regarding awaiting new kit etc, I've been waiting for my new Freight Duty Pass since last Christmas, my old one is out of date but I still carry it, I've been refused access to some stations when on duty in the London area which now have barriers because it's out of date which is very embarrassing.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Rugd1022