03/02/2014 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

And joining in. The headlines from us.

The death of a rail worker ` claims safety procedures were ignored.

The question is, why were they there when they knew there were trains

still running on the other side of the track?

Parents are told their children should be in school ` even if they

have an infectious illness. If it is contagious, the child should be kept

of to stop anything spreading. If you stay home, you nip it in the

bud. A call to scrap equal pay between

the north and the south. And making a splash for cash ` Luke

Campbell takes to the pool for the Sport Relief charity. Another

unsettled week. All the details in 15 minutes. Good evening.

A rail worker who was hit by a train in Saxilby near Lincoln died as a

result of a string of broken and ignored safety procedures. That was

the finding of a Rail Accident Investigation Branch report into the

death of 26`year`old Scott Dobson, who was killed in December 2012. It

adds to concerns about the lack of safety precautions for thousands of

casual rail workers. Paul Murphy reports.

This is an industry which, by its very nature, is hazardous. But is

safety taken seriously enough? It is December 2012, early in the

afternoon on a railway line in Lincolnshire. The gang of workers

are repairing the track. One of the workers steps back just as a train

is passing. He doesn't survive. Network Rail called the death of

Scott Dobson a watershed moment, and promised new safety rules. Scott had

been hired that day by an agency. Many in the industry say safety is

compromised by the use of such casual staff. We have spoken to

track workers who have done casual shifts for renewables companies

across the North of England. They tell us bad safety practices are

widespread. I worked with one client for a year because I wouldn't do

work that wasn't safe. More than a year on, Scott's family still has

questions about the safety of the gang on that day at Saxilby. Why

were they there when they knew that somebody would have been in danger?

80,000 people are registered to work on railways. Only a quarter of them

are Network Rail staff. Scott Dobson's death has forced the

company to rethink the way they manage this workforce. We will no

longer accept employees to be employed by agencies. They will only

be employed by Network Rail. We need to make sure this is the last

fatality, and we will make sure any changes are made to reverse those

risks. Scott had been hired that day by a recruitment company called

sky`blue, a subsidiary of the engineering giant Carillion. They

tell us they are unable to comment on specific questions or issues

related to Scott's death until after an inquest and further enquiry. They

do however say that they go to great lengths to ensure they workforce can

raise safety concerns, and that these will be acted upon. Since the

incident, they say, they have gone beyond industry standards to put in

place new safety procedures. Network Rail has said that by September,

many of its new safety reforms will be in place ` too late for Scott's

family, but aimed at preventing a repeat of the terrible events which

took his life. Paul's out on the rail network this

evening. Do you think there will be genuine safety improvements as a

result of Scott Dobson's death? I think it is fair to say that a year

run, there is still concern about safety, particularly from the rail

unions, who believe this is a proliferation of casual staff and

evolved chain of responsibility down the supply chain to subcontractors

is bad for rail safety. Network rail, which runs this rail and rails

all ran the country, says that his death was a watershed moment. The

big lessons have been learned. It is implementing safety changes which

come into effect in September. This will make the railway is a much

safer place to work, and prevent a repeat of the tragedy of December of

last year. Thank you very much. And this story is covered in more detail

on tonight's Inside Out for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. You can

hear from the union and others who've carried out track work on the

railways. In a moment: The hospitals under

scrutiny as inspectors drive to raise standards. Parents in east

Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are being told their children could still

attend school even if they have an infectious illness. Conjunctivitis,

tonsillitis, and hand, foot and mouth are classed as minor ailments

in a leaflet being made available to schools across East Yorkshire.

They can't be happy and healthy all of the time, but on the days when

they are sick, should they be here? In Yorkshire, parents have been

given this leaflet to help them make this decision. In the list of

reasons to not keep your child off school, are contagious diseases like

conjunctivitis, and, foot and mouth disease, and tonsillitis.

Conjunctivitis is very contagious, particularly the viral forms. If you

get an outbreak of that in a school, it is nasty. It lasts for ten days.

In secondary schools in England, 55% of authorised absences were due to

illness. In the East Riding, that figure was 60%. It is the second

highest in the country. The local authority says it is acting on

advice from both the government and the NHS. The decision about your

sending a charter school remains with the parents. We're not saying

anything other than that. Parents should use their judgement and

common sense because parents know their children best. We hope to do

here is help them make a good decision. To want a child with

tonsillitis in your classroom? We have a duty of care to our staff and

children at the school. We have a balancing act to do. We wait

children to maximise their time in school, but we don't want them when

they are infectious. A bit of common sense, liaising with the local

general practitioners as to whether it is appropriate for the child to

be in school. I think they are best off at home. If they stay at home,

you need it in the bad and that is the end of it. If it is contagious,

they should stay off to keep it spreading. If they can keep going,

it is best to do that. It may just be a day off here and there, but

they do end up missing school. It can affect academic achievement. The

local authority hope these local guidelines will help people think

twice before keeping their child off school.

What do you think of this story? If your child had conjunctivitis,

tonsillitis or hand, foot and mouth disease, would you automatically

keep them away from the classroom? Should they be at school or not?

Here's the e`mail. Some more news now.

A 33`year`old man has been arrested after armed police cordoned off a

Lincolnshire village. Officers were called to a flat in Ruskington this

morning after a report that there was an armed man inside. The

stand`off ended when a trained negotiator persuaded the suspect to

come out peacefully. Police say the man was on his own and that no`one

else was at risk. Lincolnshire Police is joining four

other forces in the East Midlands to work more closely. Traffic policing,

armed response and dog sections will each work as single regional teams.

Chief constables say it will increase the number of available

officers and save money. Some Yorkshire Ambulance staff are

coming to the end of a four`hour strike. The Unite Union, which

organised a 24`hour walk`out on Saturday ` says new shifts could

mean paramedics working ten hours without a meal break. The Ambulance

Service says it's had contingency plans in place.

There are calls for people working in the public sector in Lincolnshire

and East Yorkshire to be paid less than those doing the same job in the

South. The Institute of Directors says it's 'crazy' to have equal pay

in London and places like Hull and Lincoln. They claim it discourages

businesses from coming to the north because they can't compete with pay

rates in the public sector. More from the Institute of Directors in a

moment, but first, Kate Sweeting has been finding out what people living

here think of the idea. Debates about the north/south divide

are nothing new, but now a group which represents business leaders

says a divide exists, and wages should reflect that. It's a view

which has angered unions here. Fuel prices have not fallen in the North

compared to the south. It is the politics of divide and conquer. It

is about making sure our working people have dignified lives and are

able to go out and provide for their families and have good opportunities

in life. And people in Hull agree paying people less in the north

wouldn't be fair. People work just as hard in the North as they do in

the south. It should be just a sequel. Do the same work, get the

same pay. It should be based on your job, not where you live. That it's

cheaper to live here. Yes. Is it really any cheaper living here than

in the South? A pint of milk will cost the same wherever you live. As

all filling up your car or even buying a car. The difference comes

to when you buy a house. The average cost of a house in the south is

twice as expensive as it is in the north. And for some, the lower cost

of living is a big attraction. Sebastian Musil is moving his energy

investment business from the south to Hull. If I can pay people less,

it is better for them to be in a job that they are qualified rather then

being an employed or working in a job that maybe they have to do just

to earn money. So while some say a pay divide could create jobs in the

north, workers here may take some convincing. This came from the

Institute of directors. I spoke to their chief economist. I put it to

him if we reduce wages in the north, those people will have less money to

spend, affecting the economy. The biggest thing is we have to make

sure that businesses in all parts of the country are competitive, and the

best way to gauge economic prosperity is to make sure the

businesses can compete, and clearly if you have one part of the company

in charge of too much for wages, it sets a goal which other parts of the

company can't manage. How would it help if public sector workers like

teachers were paid less in the north and south? What part of that is

fair? What is fair is to make sure that the economy works as a whole.

We don't have a national cost of living. Costs of living vary across

the country. Are you saying that because houses are cheaper to buy in

the north, then if you are working there, you should not be paid as

much money? We should not decide on local issues. What we have to get

around is everybody paid according to productivity. If you are a

hard`working teacher doing the same job in Kingston`upon`Hull as

Kingston`upon`Thames, why should you be paid the same? `` shouldn't you.

What we would like to see is the quality teachers get paid more. We

have performance`related pay. Trade have a big disadvantage in

nationalised pay bargaining. Unions That is why they exist. The unions

say that because of pay freezes and pension contributions, Hull are

facing a 60% wages cut by 2015. We will see if that comes about, but

clearly what we have is the situation where in many parts of the

country, people are paid better than their counterparts. We don't want

that. We want a situation where people are able to compete on a

level playing field. What would you say to those people, public sector

workers watching the telly tonight, saying "his idea is cheap labour"?

My idea is to have all parts of the country competitive, and those parts

of the country that have difficulty attracting businesses or where

businesses have not been thriving as much, we would like to see them

being able to be more productive, and those mean people pay... I know

you're not public sector, but if your job is move to Hull, would you

be happy to take a pay cut? I would be happy to be paid what the going

rate in Hull is. Thank you very much.

And this is another story we'd like to hear your thoughts on. Should

public sector wages in the north be cut as a way to attract more private

businesses up here? You have heard the story. Your thoughts on this

one. We will have some before we finish. Looked forward to hearing

from you. Thank you for watching. Still ahead tonight: The local

rivals fighting to stay in Rugby's Superleague.

Swapping the boxing ring for the swimming pool ` Hull's Olympic Gold

medallist makes a splash for Sport Relief. Keep your photos coming in.

Tonight's was taken, a stunning picture. Another picture tomorrow

night. Good evening. Have a nice weekend? Yes. Possibly the nicest

shirt and tie combinations I have ever seen on television. This is not

a send`up. It is a genuine e`mail. I have a there. J should have gone to

Spec Savers. As he heard about the orange one? Unit did the other day.

Let's have a look at the weather. Tomorrow, not too bad. A bit of

sunshine between systems. This weather front will bring rain after

midnight. This feature will bring some rain on Tuesday night. There

will be more rain to come Wednesday afternoon. Very unsettled weak

indeed. It is not being too bad today. We will see sunshine across

Norfolk, eastern part of Lincolnshire. Here is the weather

of. It will move across as for the course of tonight. It will stay dry

this evening and during the first part of tonight. In the early hours

of the morning, that rain will push north`eastwards. It would amount to

a great deal, and in fact towards the end of the night, it will clear.

Averages down to three Celsius. The sun will rise in the morning at

7:43am. There is your next water times. There might be a bit of rain

first things towards the coast clearing. Watch out for icy patches

around dawn. Other than that, a generally decent day. Very low

cloud. The risk of the odd shower with some sunny breaks in place. The

race will pick up, especially in the afternoon and evening ahead of that

next weather system pushing in from the south`west. These are very

average temperatures for early February. You might the odd eight

degrees out. It turns wet on Tuesday night, and Wednesday books really

unsettled. Windy with showers. Bubba spells of rain at first. Thursday,

not bad. One or two showers. Uncertainty for Friday, but at the

moment, mostly dry. That is the forecast.

One of the funniest men had no eyebrows, so you are in good

company. Only with the eyebrows, not the comedy. Have a nice evening. See

you tomorrow. Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill

Hospital in Cottingham are coming under intense scrutiny this week as

dozens of inspectors from the Care Quality Commission visit the trust.

It's part of tough new measures designed to raise standards

following a national review into hospital death rates. Our health

correspondent, Vicky Johnson reports.

The Care Quality Commission came in for fierce criticism last year

following the Keogh review into high death rates. Two trusts in our area

were among 11 exposed as failing. Since then, the inspection teams

from the Care Quality Commission have been transformed from just

three or four members to the 55`strong squad currently in Hull

and East Yorkshire. The new director of hospitals, Professor Sir Mike

Richards, has been spearheading the changes.

We're acknowledging there have been problems in the past. I can tell you

we have very different processes now, different management, and we're

doing things differently. Previously, inspections would

concentrate on different departments. Now it's the whole

hospital, focusing particularly on eight key areas ` Accident and

Emergency, Maternity, Acute, Medical and Surgery, Care for the Elderly,

End of Life Care and Outpatients. Hospital managers say they're

determined to learn as much as possible from this process. What we

have said to the staff is that this is an opportunity to be absolutely

honest, open and transparent about what we are proud of and what we are

frustrated by, what we need to improve. We want that openness

around this, so we will take whatever comes as the lessons we

need to learn. Healthwatch, which aims to be the patients' champion,

has already submitted more than 400 views to the inspection team. If

comments from today's visitors are anything to go by ` these are likely

to be very varied. I found it brilliant, the world that my mum is

on. I think it is really good. I was 24 hours in the casualty, and there

is 24 hours and assessment before I went into award. Fantastic. No

problem at all. Once all the information has been collected and

processed, the trust will be given a rating, a bit like Ofsted's

judgement for schools. It will either be outstanding, good, needs

improvement or inadequate. It will be at least two months before staff

find out how they are doing. When we know, we will let you know. Thank

you to everyone who got in touch. People who don't exercise up costing

taxpayers because they don't look after their health. Researchers said

Hull had in the highest level of lazy people in the UK. But

surprisingly after Friday's programme, there was a big response.

Just a few. Chloe says: I think we got your message there. Nick said:

Michael says: Thank you very much for all of your comments.

Hull City are just two points above the Premier League relegation zone

following their draw against Spurs at the weekend. Shane Long scored

the Tigers' first league goal of the year to give them an early lead. The

game finished one`all, though, following a Spurs equaliser in the

second half. Scunthorpe United are still second

in League Two after their fourth draw in a row. Their game away at

Hartlepool on Saturday saw the Iron's best chance come from a Paul

Hayes near`miss. Sam Slocombe saved efforts from Luke Williams and Andy

Monkhouse as the match ended goalless.

Grimsby Town are a semifinal away from Wembley after beating Tamworth

4`1 in the FA Trophy. North Ferriby United went out, though, losing 2`1

at home to Gosport. And in the Conference Premier, Lincoln City

beat Halifax by three goals to one at Sincil Bank.

Officials from the Super League are promising a better competition than

ever when the season gets under way a week on Friday. Hull FC are at

home to Catalan with Hull KR under way two days later against Leeds at

Craven Park. This year sees big changes, including the

reintroduction of relegation. This report from our sports reporter,

Simon Clark, contains some flash photography.

They are the elite of rugby league. 14 teams, including two from Hull.

At the end of the season, two sides will be relegated for the first time

since 2007. Although teams are planning for the top in play`offs,

the force of the dreaded drop is not far away. It will be an exciting

season, especially from the fans' point of view. You don't want to be

in that bottom section of the ladder, or anywhere near it, towards

the back end of the year, so it does make every game important. Every

point is important, which is something we need to address. There

is a lot of pressure on. Every team needs to perform and perform their

best. We're no exception. We expect to play well every week, and we

expect to do well this season. This is how the changes work. Two teams

are relegated this season. The play`off system alters in 2015.

The magic weekend, where all teams play at the same venue, stays. The

format is one that we have now endorsed, so we have to get on with

it. It is one that can lead to exciting

rugby at the end of the season, and if you're in the top eight, you will

get those hard games at the end of the season. Fans will get a better

quality of competition. It is the introduction of something that has

been missing from the game. It will bring excitement to both ends of the

game. As you say, every week and game will matter. This promises to

be one of the most important seasons in the nine seasons since Super

League started. There are 14 teams. Eight will make the play`offs. Two

will be relegated. That should mean that every single game will have

something riding on it. BBC Look North at the Super League launch in

Manchester. Luke Campbell, the Gold medal winner

from Hull, is asking people to get involved in this year's Sport

Relief. Luke swapped the boxing ring for the swimming pool to encourage

people to get fit and raise money for the charity, which helps people

in the UK and abroad. Phillip Norton met him at Beverley Leisure Centre.

It's time to get wet. Taking the plunge and putting his weight behind

Sport Relief. Oi! Are those boxing gloves? Olympic gold medallist Luke

Campbell boxing as you have never seen him box before. It's the

first`time swimming with these on, you know, which is a little bit

different. I don't usually pair the two together. You do get some

professionals that do shadow`box underwater. It's great for speed and

for your lungs, as well. Luke's just one of the country's top sports

personalities backing next month's energetic fundraising event with the

aim of getting people exercising and having fun. It's to get in the pool,

get fit. I do my swimming twice a week in my training and it's a great

all`round sport and it's good fun. It gets you fit, it gets you strong.

Two years ago the biannual event raised more than ?60 million for

good causes and this year's has already given lifeguard Nathan a

smile. It doesn't happen every day, I turn up to work and see Luke there

in his boxing gloves just in the pool. Not a regular occurrence here.

He did really well, actually. I wouldn't like to swim in boxing

gloves myself. I can imagine it will be a lot harder. We should include

it in some of our training, really, make it a bit harder for us all.

After his Olympic gold in London 2012, preparations are well under

way for Luke's fifth professional fight against Scott Moises at the

end of the month. But he's more than happy to squeeze Sport Relief in

with his training. It's a great charity. As a sportsman myself, you

know, I know what it can do for you. All you have got to do is get

involved and help raise some money. A rallying call from the poolside.

Hull's number one Olympian hopes his ringside fans will dive in and get

involved. I like his headband. He also gets the pool to himself.

If you need more information, Sport Relief is in March. There are

details of how to get involved on the website, sportrelief.com. The

time is 6:55pm. Let's get a recap of the national

and regional headlines. Education Secretary Michael Gove says a longer

school day will help state schools be as good as private ones. After

the death of a row worker in Lincolnshire, safety procedures are

Tomorrow's weather ` a grey, damp start in places.

Claimed to be ignored. Otherwise, generally dry and bright with some

sunny spells. Just a small risk of a shower. Top temperature seven

degrees. We were talking about public sector

pay a few minutes ago. Graham has tweeted:

He says that we need less money. Dave has texted to save the wage

difference between the north and south is already present. Matt says

I am sick of the North and South divide. It is ridiculous. I vote for

northern independence. Steve says teachers have had an inner and outer

London rate for years. Those men are already paid less than those are the

same job. That is it from us tonight. Join me if you can tomorrow

on the radio. Have a good evening. See you tomorrow night.

Why are you staring at me? Just wonder how things grow and grow

Why are you staring at me? Just wonder how things grow and grow

Yeah, well, mummies and daddies do argue sometimes.