To think the London Underground staff who use 'elf and safety as an excuse not to help people with buggies at stations without lifts are basically being bone idle

[quesadilla]

Tried to get into central London yesterday alone with dd in buggy. At two separate stations without lifts I asked for help and was told they couldn't because of health and safety or insurance. (And i have heard this several times before.) Given that only about 10 per cent of tube stations have lifts I think refusing to help in any way is lame and amounts to discrimination, albeit of a passive and unintentional kind. I know that sounds a bit hysterical but the practical outcome of this situation is that if your child needs to be in a buggy and if you don't have anyone with you to help you you cannot travel on the underground...

The LU are protecting their staff from unnecessary injury, not sure why that is so difficult to understand.

You honestly have to ask why they are protecting themselves, CrazyLottie?

You don't think it might be because they aren't trained to lift buggies and carry them up the stairs, and if they do it wrong and damage their backs, that could be their livelihood gone. For good. And LUL would be under NO obligation to support them financially.

And if they were to drop and injure a child, LUL could be held liable for compensating the child for their injuries. Do you really think LUL would be happy about an employee costing them a large sum of money by doing something not in their job description? Do you think there would be no repercussions for that employee? If you do, that is very naive indeed.

If there was an emergency i dont think people would be faffing around with a buggy!
Ofcourse they're going to protect their staff.
If staff tripped and damaged said buggy how many people would complain and demand compensation?
Or trip and hurt parent and baby?
What if staff hurt themself when lugging the buggy up and downstairs,the employer would be open to compensation claims from the staff.

And if they were doing something that wasn't in their job description, they might not have a case to claim compensation, and could be left penniless, jobless, and with a debilitating, possibly life-altering back injury.

Nope - I can't see why they would want to protect themselves.

There's a reason you don't see many pushchairs on the tube!

I don't know if it's just me, but I always plan to be self-sufficient when out with dcs. I pack snacks for them so I don't have to beg strangers for food when they get hungry. I plan routes I know I can handle without help. When I'm with dh, I throw caution to the wind cause I know between us we can get the two of them + buggy and scooter and stuff up and down steps. But generally, I plan to be independent (of course I do get scuppered by things like out of order lifts...but that's life)

Total déjà vu. I posted something similar a few months back and was astonished at the response! I have always avoided the tube with my son for this very reason but on this occasion, really had to use it to get where I needed to be. And the reason I was travelling was to do some volunteer work which was a hassle in itself with no childcare but did it to help the people concerned.

Who says karma exists! Refused help by staff and several members of public until someone took pity on me. Thought I would get sympathy on MN - 99% of replies criticised me for choosing an impractical pram. Hmmmm when I was pregnant and had no idea what I needed in a pram funnily enough I didn't anticipate this one particular day! DS was still under 1 so hadn't yet needed / discovered the folding buggy types.

It's a yanbu from me! All you're after is a little bit of help from a fellow human being.

Also maybe I'm in a minority but when I was a student and did customer facing type jobs I always used to go the extra mile to help people but using initiative rather than just shrugging or saying 'not my problem' or 'I don't know'. But so many people just don't care. I continue to find it surprising but I dont know why anymore after bitter experience!!

yawn

But its not them giving bad customer service!if they injured themselves and couldnt work again that wouldnt be fair would it? Im fonding it so hard to get a job now because i have so many limitations, and this was all due to helping someone!

No, they are insured to help carry empty buggies. They are not allowed to help carry buggies with children in. JDs are not exhaustive - it's like an office worker refusing to complete a certain spreadsheet if it is not specifically referred to in his/her JD. Legally, per their contract of employment, they may help carry empty buggies and they are insured to do so. There is no reason why they shouldn't help, unless they are just being rude/unhelpful. TFL/LU are protecting their staff (and this is fair enough IMO) only if the buggy has a child in it.

Travelling on the tube with a baby/buggy/toddler/combination of all three is a PITA.

You do get quite good at it though.

The trick is a buggy you can lift with one hand and a backpack for the stuff (if not a backpack, strap the bag into the buggy and just drag it up/down with you - if you have to drop something just let go of the buggy.

Baby on hip, bag on back and buggy in the other hand, get toddler to stand/walk in front of you going up and behind you coming down so you are between them and the fall.

I actually have a touch of claustrophobia and after the London bombings used to stress horribly so pretty much stopped getting the tube with the DSs and got around either by walking or on the bus.