Sunday 6 January 2019

Storage licence champion

Whilst waiting for a tube train early on New Years Day, I read the following notice (for reading notices is about all there is to do on Bank Station at 07.00 on New Years Day).




If that seems fairly uninteresting, then you are normal. It is an application to store some unspecified material bagged, secured and caged in a five square metre space. The material that is required by a project to upgrade the station.

It is interesting to wonder who this notice is intended for: the vast majority of commuters would be uninterested in it, and I suppose it is for anyone wanting to use the particular storage area for any other purpose.

However I was drawn to the bottom-left of the notice, which shows there is something called a "Storage Licence Champion".

At first, this seemed like a non-job the likes of Private Eye and certain papers love to make fun of. The word 'champion' makes it sound like a total non-job, a person who goes around proselytising the benefits of a good storage licence.

On reflection though, that's harsh, and it could well be a valuable role.

Firstly, tube stations (especially underground ones) are cramped affairs, and space is at a premium.

Secondly, people need to know where things are.

Thirdly, you do not want passengers interfering with such things.

Fourthly, there is a massive safety aspect. In 2007 a tube train derailed at Mile End station when it struck a roll of fire-resistant blanket that had been left nearby, and which had been moved onto the track by the draught of a passing train. A causal factor in the report is:
 "the incomplete training and supporting documentation provided to Site Persons in Charge (SPCs) in relation to the storage of materials in cross passages."
Table 1 in the accident report outlines other cases where improperly-stored items had hit trains.

So there probably is a good need for such a role - if it is as I assume. I do query the job title, however. It should be: "Person who ensures everything is put away where it should be so we don't get any fuck-ups."

On second thoughts, "Storage Licence Champion" is probably better ...

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