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MK 4 York Containers – Operational, Circulation and Safety Controls‎:

Discussions have taken place with the RM National Asset Supply Chain Manager, ‎the National Container Supply and MHE Manager, the National Head of Safety Programmes and the Parcels Automation‎ People Change National Manager regarding the above, following widespread reports from Area Safety Representatives regarding misuse of MK4 York containers in respect of breaches of the Safe System of Work and circulation of these containers outside of Royal Mail’s current circulation and traffic flows specification for MK 4 York containers resulting in these containers arriving at offices which should not be receiving them i.e., Mail Centres without PSM machines, RDCs and Delivery Offices.

Royal Mail HQ has communicated to all offices the agreement surrounding the MK4 York container circulation flows so that there is clarity within the operation of where these containers can and cannot be used and ultimately ensuring the workforce remains safe and to ensure there is a succinct clarity within the operation and safety management communities.  It has been agreed that this message be cascaded and distributed jointly by RM and CWU.

To ensure the message reaches all managers within the business it will also be distributed through CPC (Central Postal Control) Flashes and RM weekly Communications to aide understanding and continuity as well as the importance of retrieving all MK4’s back into the correct offices to ensure there is no shortfall within the operation.

The MK4 Parcel York container is being utilised to assist with the automation of parcels through the RM pipeline.  In order to make sure that best use of the MK4 York container fleet is made and to ensure that only people trained in the use of these containers handle them, the following process will be followed for the use of MK4 Yorks:-

• MK4 Yorks are to be used in Mail Centres that have Parcel Sorting Machines (PSM) – to dispatch outward traffic to other PSM sites.
• MK4 Yorks can also be circulated to use in Collection Hubs, to connect inward traffic to Mail Centres with PSMs. Where Collection Hubs have Delivery Offices attached to them, MK4’s can be used in the connected Delivery Office but in all cases, staff in these sites must be trained on how to safely use the MK4 York and the Safe System of Work must be followed at all times‎ with the bases set in the upper position for manual operations.

The National Asset Supply Chain Manager and National Container Supply and MHE Manager are clear on the use of MK4’s and this has been set out in ‘Mandatory’ messages to all offices as follows:-

• MK4 Parcel Yorks must not be sent to Mail Centres without PSM machines or to RDCs (other than for cross-docking and onward distribution via the network) or to Delivery Offices (other than those co-located with Collection Hubs).
• Only people trained in the use of the MK4 York container can handle them – “MANDATORY”.
• The MK4 Parcel York container is to be used to assist with the automation of parcels through the Royal Mail pipeline.
• RM see the MK4 as key equipment, crucial to the efficient running of Parcel Sorting Machines (PSMs) and plays a vital role in moving sorted parcels through the pipeline‎.
• MK4’s are to be used in Mail Centres that have a PSM to dispatch outward traffic to other PSM sites.
• The “Mandatory” SSoW must be followed at all times and when used in manual sort areas, the Mark 4 York base must be set in the upper/highest position.
• There are now 14 Mail Centres with Parcel Sort Machines (PSM) with a further three due to be installed, taking the total to 17.
• MK4 Yorks are NOT to be sent to Mail Centres without PSM machines or to RDCs or to Delivery Offices.
• It is crucial that MK4s are returned PSM sites as quickly as possible to maintain the operation.
• Although MK4 Yorks can be used across the network – RM needs to focus their use in automation.
• All storage areas are to be checked for MK4 parcel Yorks and they must be returned to the nearest PSM site.
• PSM Offices: Birmingham, Bristol, Chelmsford, Gatwick, Greenford, Home Counties North, Jubilee, Leeds,‎ Manchester, Preston, Sheffield, South Midlands, Swindon and Warrington. (Glasgow and Peterborough are set to go LIVE imminently).
• Damaged MK4 Yorks should be returned to the Royal Mail Milton Keynes Container Storage site – via existing MHE damaged equipment services, by trained staff.
• Any incorrect MK4 York use/arrivals to be reported to container.reporting@royalmail.com‎

Training

Training will be cascaded from the Parcels Automation team to the Work Place Coaches and then on to the workforce.‎ Advice has been sent to all the PSM offices to reinforce the need to increase the levels of training to support the use of MK4 Yorks between PSM Mail Centres and Collection Hubs‎.

Action for all non-PSM Mail Centres, RDCs and Delivery Units – Returning MK4 Yorks to PSM sites:

It is crucial Royal Mail gets MK4s back to PSM sites as quickly as possible to maintain the operation and avoid shortages.

• Please check your operational and storage areas for MK4 parcel Yorks for return to the nearest PSM site using any outward flows.
• Please report any future MK4 Parcel York arrivals and misuse to container.reporting@royalmail.com‎

Attachment: ‎

National ‘MANDATORY’ Instructions – CPC Action Flash (2019) 019

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB571 Mk 4 York Containers – Operational, Circulation and Safety Controls‎

CPC 2019 – 019

Asbestos Victims’ Supreme Court Victory – Triumph for Open Justice: 

A judgment handed down by the Supreme Court is being hailed as a landmark in the British fight for “transparency of the legal process” .The civil case initiated by Graham Dring in 2017 on behalf of the ‘Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK’ sought the disclosure of court case documents to individuals and organisations who were not directly involved in Asbestos Civil Litigation Court cases. Such documents which could contain vitally important information to Asbestos Campaigning Organisation, Trade Unions, Victims etc., have always in the past been restricted and kept confidential to those directly involved in the court case (Plaintiff and Defendant), for example the employer who allegedly exposed workers to Asbestos and the individual claiming Personal Injury Damages from the negligent employer.

This judgement now changes everything! The precedent it set could almost certainly be used by Asbestos Campaigners, Trade Unions, Lawyers, Victims, Researchers, concerned individuals or journalists etc., to access what in effect were previously closely guarded, secret court documents in other cases. The unanimous Supreme Court verdict of Lady Hale (President), Lord Briggs, Lady Arden, Lord Kitchin and Lord Sales in the case “Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring” (for and on behalf of Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK) upheld the principle of public access based on the constitutional principle of ‘open justice’ and dismissed the objections by the Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd’s powerful legal team.

Cape argued that the Court of Appeal did not have jurisdiction to make the disclosure order and if it did have jurisdiction, the disclosure order was wrong in principle. The Supreme Court Judges disagreed and said the Court of Appeal not only had jurisdiction to make the disclosure order but it also had jurisdiction to make a wider disclosure order if it were right so to do.

Graham Dring and the ‘Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK’ is now due to receive all the documents which include witness statements, experts’ reports and pleadings as originally ordered by the Court of Appeal within a matter of weeks. For the remaining documents Graham Dring will make an application to the Royal Courts of Justice where a High Court Judge will consider whether to order wider disclosure of documents and records than the Court of Appeal did.

It was made clear that the Supreme Court expected the High Court to decide the case on the basis of the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court and to determine whether the High Court should require the provision of copies of any other documents placed before the judge and referred to in the course of the trial concerned.

Considering that the Supreme Court expressed its view that the default position should be that Graham Dring be granted access not only to the parties’ written submissions and arguments, but also to the documents which have been placed before the court and referred to during the hearing, it is likely that a very large number of documents will be disclosed; as many of them detail historic knowledge held by Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd (“Cape”) – a subsidiary of one of the UK’s former Asbestos Giants (Cape Asbestos plc) – about the Asbestos hazard and the importance of these documents to Asbestos victims and their quest for compensation and clarity could be huge.

It’s taken Graham Dring and the ‘Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK over 2 years to achieve this victory the organisation say it was worth it.

Cape Asbestos was one of the two Asbestos giants in the UK, along with Turner & Newall. Unlike Turner & Newall, Cape plc is still an active company. Their operations, and their products, have been responsible for the deaths of many people, not just in the UK but in other countries too, including miners in southern Africa. They produced Asbestolux, which many joiners and carpenters used in the UK and which still remains in thousands of buildings across the UK, in a deteriorating condition, in UK schools, homes and workplaces.

The disclosure of these documents will reveal how much Cape really knew about the dangers of Asbestos long before it became common knowledge and may show how much they kept the facts hidden and why they were allowed to get away with it. They are not just responsible for the deaths of their own workers. They caused the deaths of workers who used their products, sub-contractors doing work in their factories, wives who washed their husbands’ work clothes and people living near to their factories. Hopefully this judgement will allow a light to be shone on their behaviour.

Leigh, Day & Co (Solicitors), the lawyers representing the ‘Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK had taken out an injunction to prevent corporate documents belonging to Cape being destroyed at the conclusion of a case involving Cape and its insurers. Over the course of the last two years, the case proceeded through the High Court via the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court ending in an important victory.

The whole of the Trade Union movement will join in congratulating Graham Dring, the ‘Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK’ and Leigh, Day & Co Solicitors plus their appointed barristers in achieving this victory which will be hugely important to all Unions and Victims Groups representing Asbestos victims’ documents.  We’re delighted that the Supreme Court has ruled in the favour of Graham Dring and the ‘Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK’ which took on and won against this huge Corporate Enterprise.  This is a landmark decision for access to documents to non-parties and a victory for open justice. I hope it will help shed a light on all manner of issues, including the deadly asbestos industry. Cape has fought tooth and nail throughout this case to avoid the public disclosure of its documents and records.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB569 Asbestos Victims’ Supreme Court Victory – Triumph for Open Justice

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