Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Alert – Storage of Oil Barrels at Delivery Offices

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

For the urgent attention of Royal Mail Area Safety Reps. Please see attached copy of RM SHE Alert GPSA0004 entitled ‘Storage of Substances’.

The SHE Alert was generated following a Safety Inspection carried out by a Local Authority Environmental Health Officer at the Royal Mail Gloucester North Delivery Office. The Enforcement Officer found that engine oil barrels were not being stored correctly and added that the issue needed to be rectified immediately to avoid an enforcement notice being served on Royal Mail. Local Management responded immediately to correct the non-compliance and so no formal action was taken.

Following the Enforcement Officer’s intervention, the attached alert has been issued reminding all Persons in Charge (PiCs) and their deputies of the importance of storing substances, including new and used engine oils in a safe and compliant manner to avoid risks to health and the environment.

Key Messages in the Alert

• Ensure that oil/grease drums are properly stored in ‘bunded’ containers or on ‘bunded’ pallets and kept dry.

• Ensure that spill kits are available and that staff are trained to use them in the event of a spill.

• Ensure that in the event of a spill the Property and Facilities helpdesk is contacted for specialist support to clean up.

• Ensure that substances such as cleaning materials are kept in locked cabinets/cupboards when not in use.

(Note: A Bund is an item or structure with a wall surrounding an industrial oil or fuel tank which acts as a safety container to capture any leaks).

Would all ASRs check this issue when carrying out their Safety Inspections or carry out additional spot checks to ensure Delivery Offices are compliant. If any non-compliant Delivery Offices are found, please complete a Safety Inspection Report and submit the report without delay, requesting immediate attention from the PiC.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB447 Royal Mail Group (SHE) Safety Alert – Storage of Oil Barrels at Delivery Offices

GPSA004 Storage of Substances_

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Royal Mail Delivery Office Recruits – New Starters Interim Weatherproof Protective Coat/Jacket Trial:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

This is an update to Branches, Regional Health and Safety Forums and Area Health and Safety Reps further to my 4 June communication to Area Health & Safety Reps and Regional Health and Safety Forums.

As you will know, getting new starters their appropriate protective cold and wet weather clothing before going out on delivery in severe inclement weather has always been an issue for ASRs. The Health, Safety & Environment Department has been challenging this continually for a number of years with the Royal Mail Safety, Health and Environment Team, Occupational Health and Assets teams as well as raising the matter with the HSE.

The current business standard for new starters is that they are entitled to a basic uniform (which does not include a weatherproof, storm-proof jacket). Once they have been employed for 6 weeks and providing they’re going to be employed for 13+ weeks they get their job title changed from new starter to walking delivery for example and a weatherproof, storm-proof jacket is provided as part of their full allocation. (Note: The Postal Outdoor Department is currently reviewing the Uniform Agreement with Royal Mail, covering all standard clothing).

The Health, Safety & Environment Department’s position is that the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Regulations 1992 requires the provision of protective clothing, free of charge, and that PPE is “All equipment (including clothing affording protection against the weather) which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects them against one or more risks to their health and safety”. We have further argued that Royal Mail is not compliant with the regulations in respect of new recruits during their initial period of employment.

As notified to Branches earlier this year and as displayed at CWU Annual Conference, I’m pleased to say that Royal Mail Assets has proposed a New Starter ‘interim weatherproof coat/jacket’ which the RM Assets and the Dimensions (Royal Mail Group Clothing and Footwear Supplier) team had at CWU Conference for delegates to view this year.

It has been agreed that it’s now time to trial and test the coat/jacket. The idea is that if successful, new starters would get the jacket on day one and receive their standard normal full clothing allocation after 6 weeks in the job as is standard practice now.

In my 4 June communication, I invited ASRs to nominate Delivery Offices in their areas as trial sites. Both Royal Mail and the CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department were particularly keen to include offices in parts of the country that experience high levels of rain and inclement weather. Having said that, in recent years various parts of the country have been hit with localised heavy rain storms and resultant flash floods.

Incidentally, the Met Office recently reported that the wettest place in the UK is Snowdonia in Wales (average annual totals exceeding 3,000mm of rain a year), followed by the Highlands of Scotland, the Lake District, the Pennines and the moors of South West England.

We’ve had a great response from ASRs to the proposed New Recruits Interim Weatherproof Coat/Jacket trial. I’ve spoken to many Reps since Conference around all the regions and have received well over 100 Delivery Offices nominations to participate in trials of the coat where new recruits have recently been employed or are due to start. I would like to thank all ASRs for the great response. The National Royal Mail Uniform Manager and Head of Assets have also asked me to convey their thanks to ASRs for the great response and support. However Royal Mail only have 25 trial coats to test at this stage and so selection of trial sites has been made by geographical location.

Following consideration of the Delivery Office sites nominated by CWU Area Health and Safety Reps, Royal Mail Assets has confirmed the selected sites and individuals for the 25 New Starter Interim Weatherproof Coats to be trialed.

The jackets are class 3 for waterproof and breathability and class 2 for high viz. The trial will need to test design, comfort, wearability and breathability qualities as well as waterproofness and insulation.

The jackets should arrive from the manufacturer in the next 2/3 weeks and confirmation will be sent to the relevant Delivery Office Managers just before the trial coats are delivered to the units in order to confirm those selected are still employed with Royal Mail at the same site.

The fact is that the weather has been far too hot recently to realistically expect staff to wear a weatherproof, storm proof jacket and it may seem to some a bit of a joke that this trial is being announced just now, however intermittent rainstorms have hit various parts of the country of late and we have agreed to trial the coats for 3 months which will take the trial into the winter months and a trial extension can be considered at the review point if agreed its needed all round.

It’s really important that feedback is obtained from all 25 members trialing the coats and Area Health and Safety Reps covering trial sites are asked to monitor the trial garments with those individuals concerned to ensure feedback is received from the individuals and indeed the Reps if they wish to input. All feedback and input is very welcome. The feedback will enable Royal Mail and the CWU to make an informed decision as to whether Royal Mail provides this coat from day 1 for all new starters and also the comfort, design, suitability, robustness and longevity of the garment all need to be tested.

Further information as to when the coats arrive and when they will be dispatched to the trial sites will be provided by Royal Mail Assets in due course and this will be passed to ASRs.

List of final Trial Delivery Offices:-

• Skye SPDO

• Dundee DO x 3

• Stornaway DO

• Barvas SPDO

• Forres DO

• Portsmouth MPU x 4

• Bognor DO

• Gosport DO x 2

• Newport (IOW) x 2

• Barnstable DO

• Exeter DO x 4

• Dungannon DO x 3

• West London DC

The current Stormproof/Weatherproof Coat is part of the RMG PPE Matrix. The ‘interim’ coat will be treated the same, should it be retained, and will be included in the PPE Matrix review and update which the Health, Safety and Environment Department will be undertaking with the RMG SHE team at the appropriate time taking account of the trial outcome.

LTB720/15, dated 16 November 2015, entitled ‘Royal Mail Group/CWU Joint Statement and New Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Safety Standard’ refers.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB445 Royal Mail Delivery Office Recruits – New Starters Interim Weatherproof Protective Coat-Jacket Trial

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TERMS OF REFERENCE BETWEEN ROYAL MAIL AND THE CWU FOR THE TRIAL OF RESOURCE SCHEDULER IN MAIL CENTRES, PRDC AND DELIVERY OFFICES

Dear Colleagues

Branches and representatives will be aware that Section 16.1.2 and Section 16.4 of the Guiding Principles of Employment Security and Mutual Interest Approach to Future Challenges and Opportunities Agreement committed to the trial of Resource Scheduler, as part of the activity to achieve the 1st hour of the Shorter Working Week.

Resource Scheduler is a commercially available system, which the business believes may enable the standardisation and simplification of existing resourcing processes by replacing the various current spreadsheets and systems in resourcing with a single system. The business view is that the system capabilities will enable more strategic planning on matching resource to workload including:

▪ Better alignment of scheduling resource to forecast workload at different time horizons: tactical planning (up to 3/2 weeks out) and possible on the day adjustments.

▪ Providing people with improved and advanced clarity of their work schedules factoring in their selected local arrangements.

▪ Provide greater insight into skills planning.

▪ Greater compliance to labour laws and the Working Time Directive, recognising the current respective RM/CWU position regarding this aspect.

▪ Standard resourcing system and process across the business.

Cross departmental discussions have therefore been taking place with the business in relation to a framework to enable the activity to commence. Discussions have now concluded and a Terms of Reference has been agreed, a copy of which is attached for your information.

The document includes a generic Terms of Reference for the trial with supporting detailed Annexes for the Delivery and Processing Functions. Staff in all other Royal Mail functions at the trial sites, i.e. Logistics Drivers (Network and Area Distribution), Collections, Revenue Protection, Engineers, RMPFLS Cleaners and Quadrant will not be included in the trial activity and resourcing for those functions will continue to follow current agreed arrangements.

The agreed activity will be confined to a “Proof of Concept” trial, in order to test the capabilities of the system. During the trial all Resourcing arrangements will continue to strictly adhere to all relevant

National agreements and in addition colleagues will note that attendance times, duty patterns and SA levels will be fixed and protected at all trial sites.

The activity will be overseen by a Joint Working Group (JWG) which will include respective National leads, nominated managers and CWU Divisional, Area and local representatives covering the trial sites. The trial activity will commence on the 6th August 2018 and is initially expected to last for a 2 month period and will be conducted in 5 operational units:

▪  Greenford Mail Centre.

▪  Warrington Mail Centre.

▪  PRDC.

▪  Hemel Hempstead DO.

▪  Northwood DO.

To support this activity, joint events will be organised for Managers and CWU Representatives representing the trial sites to ensure that the aims and Terms of Reference for the trial are fully understood. Training materials for employee briefings will also be jointly developed and delivered as soon as possible.

Any extension of the Resource Scheduler trial, either beyond the listed trial sites or to other business functions will be subject to National agreement and a new Terms of Reference.

Branches and representatives will be aware that four of the trial sites are also part of the AHDC trial. However, to ensure that there is a uniform approach across all sites it has been confirmed that AHDC data will not be used as part of the Resource Scheduler trial.

Significant protections have been added with regard to Bookroom staff in Processing due to the potential impact in that function.

Discussions in relation to a TOR have been delayed by technical issues. Given this it is very likely that trial activity will continue beyond the October 2018 date for the deployment of the first hour reduction in the working week. As such it has been agreed that the SWW will not be dependent on the completion of the trial and the agreement of a deployment plan. Instead the document now commits to a joint report from the JWG after one month confirming progress to date, which would be the enabler for the SWW.

Following the trial activity any onward deployment of Resource Scheduler would be subject to further discussions and agreement at National level.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to:

Processing: Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary

Email Address: dwyatt@cwu.org or shayman@cwu.org quoting reference: 730.13.

or

Deliveries: Mark Baulch, Assistant Secretary

email: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org quoting reference: 230.03.

Yours sincerely

 

Davie Robertson – Assistant Secretary        

Mark Baulch – Assistant Secretary 

18LTB441- TOR Resource Scheduler Trial 02.08.18

TOR Resource Scheduler 02.08.18

Royal Mail Share Incentive Plan Partnership and Matching

The DGS(P) Department has received a number of enquiries regarding material Royal Mail has issued concerning a new Partnership and Matching Scheme which, in the Company’s words offers “a flexible way to invest in Royal Mail shares”.

Partnership and Matching is a new element of the Royal Mail Share Incentive Plan that allows employees to use their pre-tax pay to purchase Royal Mail shares ‘Partnership Shares’ on a monthly basis. Royal Mail will then add to the shares by giving you ‘Matching Shares’ for free. Those interested need to apply by Friday 17th August by logging on to the Employee Share Plan portal http://www.royalmailemployeeshares.co.uk or by calling the Employee Shares Helpline on 0800 012 12 13.

The new share arrangement offers similar tax advantages to SIP free shares which were first allocated to eligible employees at the time of privatisation in 2013. In October of this year, those owning free shares allocated in October 2013, will for the first time, be free to sell these shares without incurring any tax or national insurance deductions.

Branches will be aware that the CWU opposed Royal Mail privatisation in 2013 and that Union policy is to support full renationalisation of Royal Mail Group and reintegration of the Post Office.

The CWU has never agreed the share scheme or negotiated over its operation. What members therefore choose to do in relation to these shares is entirely a matter for the individual concerned.

The Union is not in a position to offer any financial advice and any questions about the operation of the share scheme should be addressed to Royal Mail and/or the scheme administrator Equiniti.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.

Yours sincerely,

 

Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

18LTB440 Royal Mail Share Incentive Plan Partnership and Matching

LTB 435/18 Royal Mail Delivery – Musculoskeletal Survey Report

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTB 435/18, we are receiving enquiries regarding the status of the Report.

This report is a report based on a survey carried out ‘unilaterally’ by Dr Corinne Parsons, Royal Mail Group Occupational Health & Ergonomics Manager in 10 delivery offices using questionnaires and focus group sessions. In addition comments were received from several postmen and women as a result of a Courier article.

The Report is of great interest and raises a number of health, safety, welfare and ergonomic issues based on information collected directly from front line staff which Royal Mail will need to discuss in detail with the Union and re-assess and address as part of their Health and Safety obligations and duties.

However, the study did not have CWU involvement and the report contents are not agreed or verified at this stage and it will therefore be subject to debate via discussions with the Union through a number of channels as the report touches on a wide range of subject matters which cuts across matters relevant to different departments including Health and Safety, Postal Industrial and Central Services Departments in CWU/HQ.

The report has been published in response to requests from Area and Local Safety Reps who were aware of the study and is for information only at this stage.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB438 Re LTB435-18 Royal Mail Delivery – Musculoskeletal Survey Report

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Assurers Report – Members Audit Certificate (MAC) – 2018 

LTB 038/17 set out the process for the audit report required within the Trade Union Administration Act for us to receive our MAC.

We have received the results and recommendations of our second audit and although we have been granted our MAC there are a few improvements we are charged with implementing.

A key issue within the report identified the length of time new application forms remained in Branch offices. In one instance the Audit Team observed an application form signed by a potential new member two months prior to the form reaching CWU Headquarters.

We fully understand and appreciate that if Branches are out of the office on recruitment drives it may be impractical to post new application forms to CWU Headquarters on a daily basis. However, to ensure we have taken action in response to our Audit Report, which will be checked during the next audit, membership application forms should not be left any longer than a maximum of 5 working days.

The Trade Union Admin Act came into force as a part of further attempts by the Government to tie up trade union activity. Failure to receive a MAC will mean we are not allowed to use/access our membership database for trade union purposes.

We would appreciate Branches compliance with the terms set out in this LTB.

Any enquiries regarding this Letter to Branches should be addressed to Martin Akerman, Senior Deputy General Secretary’s Department on telephone number 020 8971 7237, or email address makerman@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,

Tony Kearns

Senior Deputy General Secretary

18LTB439

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Openreach Engineer – Fatal Fall From Height – Ladder Accident

To: BT Branches

Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTB 364/18 Openreach Engineer – Fatal Fall From Height – Ladder Accident, many of you will be aware of the recent tragic death of an Openreach engineer and Openreach have shared the information with the rest of the Openreach family through the July edition of Safe and Well. The article says:

“Nobody in Openreach or BT ever wants to be the one to share this type of news and our thoughts are with Gary’s family, friends and work colleagues during this difficult time.

Gary fell from a ladder erected against a wall whilst working at a customer’s premises on the 17th of May; he was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich hospital and then transferred to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge where he sadly died on 13th June. We have not had official confirmation of the cause of death.

A full joint accident investigation was carried out by our Openreach Health and Safety team and Union Safety Representatives. It found that all the necessary PPE was correctly worn and that process and training were correctly followed. Beyond that we don’t know the cause of the fall. It’s human nature to speculate as to the cause of the accident, but until we’ve got more information, speculation isn’t helpful to anyone.

Please think very carefully about the impact of anything that you may post on social media, as some early comments were been seen by, and caused distress to, Gary’s family.

This is a sad and distressing situation, especially so for people closest to Gary, whether family or work colleagues. If you find that you need extra support due to the nature of this incident, please remember that the services of the Employee Assistance Programme(EAP) are there for you. If you need to talk with someone, get in touch with them on 0800 917 6767 or via https://www.livewell.optum.com(password: BTUK). It’s confidential, free and available 24/7 –not just during work hours.

We’re all part of the Openreach family so please keep looking out for each other.”

We understand that the police are investigating the accident.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB431 Openreach Engineer – Fatal Fall From Height – Ladder Accident

Safe and Well Issue 60 July 2018

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Royal Mail Group Environmental Initiative – Reducing Consumption of ‘Single Use Plastics’ – Phase One – Removing Plastic Drinking Cups from Royal Mail Offices

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

As Branches, Reps and Members will know, the Union’s consistent Conference Policy is for the Union to continue working as an organisation and with employers to contribute positively to protecting our environment by reducing pollution, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and to press for government to enforce regulations that keep our water and air clean.

You will be aware that plastic wastes are causing significant concern and can’t fail to have noticed the general publicity being given to the menace of ‘single-use plastics’ in the environment. The proliferation of waste plastics in the environment, particularly the oceans, has become a serious concern and is attracting increasing attention, not only from environmentalists and the world media but within the business and social communities and the public in general.

‘Single-use plastic’ is any plastic that is generally only used once before being disposed of or recycled. Common examples surround us in our day-to-day lives, including: plastic bags, water bottles and bottle tops, plastic cups and plastic food wrappers.

Recycling plastic rather than throwing it away is a great first step, but even recycling the plastic is more costly than recycling other materials. ‘Single-use plastic’ comes in a wide range of types which must be handled differently. In order to be recycled they first have to be separated. Also, not all plastics can be recycled. Therefore, the ideal solution is to reduce the ‘single-use plastics’ that are consumed.

The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department has been in discussions with Ron Symonds Royal Mail Group Head of Environmental Sustainability to look at what Royal Mail Group, as one of the UK’s largest employers, with revenue of £10 Billion, can do to make a contribution to reducing plastic use and waste reduction.

As a start towards making a difference by removing or replacing ‘single-use plastic’ items from Royal Mail networks, it has been proposed that the programme would start by removing plastic drink cups supplied to Royal Mail sites as last year a staggering 4.4 million plastic cups were consumed by Royal Mail staff. It has been agreed that this can be done with little or no impact on the front line workforce, replacing plastic cups with bio-degradable paper cups as well as promoting re-use of cups and encouraging members to refill their own bottles, containers, cups and glasses from water dispensers and taps, if they so wish.

The July Edition of Royal Mail Courier (see page 11) carries a ‘plastics’ competition aimed at identifying other ‘single use plastics’ to target for removal.

Royal Mail Group is also considering a donation of a proportion of the cash savings made this financial year from ‘single-use plastics’ removal to the Royal Mail Group nominated charity ‘Action for Children’ and the ‘Rowland Hill Fund’ which supports members of staff in need.

The CWU fully supports the drive to protect our planet and the drive to reduce the use of ‘single use plastics’ due to the growing negative environmental impact of these materials.

Offices can still order water cups but they will be supplied with biodegradable paper cups instead of single use plastic. Offices can order them through the normal channels and should be receiving instructions on the re-order process imminently.

Additionally, and this is preferable from an environmental point of view, members can use their own reusable, refillable cups, bottles and containers if they prefer.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB434 Reducing Consumption of Single Use Plastics – Phase 1

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Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter July-August 2018

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The Greener Jobs Alliance was launched to promote skills training and job creation to meet the needs of Britain’s rapidly growing low carbon sectors and to green the whole economy.

The transition to a low carbon and resource efficient economy can drive sustainable economic recovery and job creation in every part of the country as well as making existing jobs more secure. But this requires a more strategic national and local approach to deliver the workforce skills needed and to stimulate demand for clean energy and energy efficiency services.

The Greener Jobs Alliance liaises at a national and local level to build the broadest possible support for the policies, investment, partnerships and commitments needed to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.

The Greener Jobs Alliance liaises with training bodies, colleges, universities, employers, local and national government, trade unions, housing associations, campaign and community groups – to build the policies, investment and partnerships needed to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.

The GJA runs a number of ‘free’ courses on the environment for Trade Union Reps in different parts of the UK which have been attended by a number of CWU Reps.

The GJA came into existence as a result of funding from Battersea and Wandsworth TUC.

See attached July-August GJA Newsletter.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB433 Greener Jobs Alliance (GJA) Newsletter July-August 2018

GJA-Newsletter-16

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