Royal Mail Logistics – Accident Near Miss & Hazard Reporting Process “STAR” (Stop, Think, Act, Report) – National Roll-Out:

LTB No. 452/2018 dated 8 August 2018, announced the trial of a new “near miss and hazard reporting” process which had been developed jointly between Royal Mail Logistics and the CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department for use in Logistics, aimed at helping to improve safety standards and better manage safety in the workplace. After reviewing the Trial outcome, it has been agreed to roll out nationally the Accident Near Miss & Hazard Reporting Process called “STAR” (Stop, Think, Act, Report) across the UK in all Royal Mail Logistics, Distribution and Fleet Services Units and operations. WTLL briefing sessions will be completed in all units prior to introduction in that unit.

The simple, easy to use ‘STAR’ system enables Logistics workers to report incidents via a simple report card and collection box process. The CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department have been fully involved in the development planning to introduce the “near miss and hazard reporting” process and we fully endorse and support this approach.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimated that if every single reportable incident not at present investigated by employers was investigated and acted upon, this could save UK society up to £2 billion per year in preventable accidents and incidents.

Near misses are warnings of failings or gaps in safety management systems, and can identify potential accidents before they actually happen. In doing so personal injury, pain, loss and suffering plus damage to plant, equipment, property and loss of productivity can all be avoided with thorough reporting, investigation, root cause analysis and remedial action.

History has shown repeatedly that most serious and catastrophic accidents and events were preceded by warnings or near miss incidents. Recognising and reporting hazards and near miss incidents can significantly improve worker safety and enhance the organisation’s safety culture. The HSE state that there is a direct correlation between the number of near misses and accident rates.

The intention of this new scheme is to proactively encourage staff to support and utilise the process in a “blame-free” culture by reporting all hazards they see and all near miss incidents they observe or are involved in, so as to ensure there’s a full investigation in to the hazard or how the incidents happened, how the risks arise and how they might be prevented in future.

The findings and conclusions can then be taken into account in revising the workplace risk assessments, working methods, dealing with accommodation issues, plant, equipment etc., so ensuring they are safe and fit for purpose.

If an incident occurs which does not result in an injury, but which clearly could have done, then it’s a ‘near miss’, and jointly Royal Mail and the CWU want to encourage every individual staff member to report it. Reporting incidents will be encouraged and not frowned upon.

Effective identification and reporting of near misses and hazards means preventative measures and controls can be introduced, reducing the likelihood of an accident occurring.

The near miss/hazard report cards will be accessible to all Logistics staff on the site.

The message to all Logistics staff is ‘please take the opportunity to submit any hazards you spot or near miss incidents you have , however minor you think they are’. Because if we don’t know where the real problems are, how are we going to prioritise our efforts? An effective near miss reporting process can be a fundamental element of a thriving safety culture. A near miss is a golden opportunity to prevent an accident. The idea is to get the information reported quickly. This allows an investigation to take place to identify root causes of potential accidents and to then assist with follow-up and corrective action so that ultimately lower accident and injury rates result. The hope is that staff will learn the importance of near miss and hazard reporting and begin helping deploy a sustainable reporting program that’s unique to their work and operations. The information will be collected and analysed for appropriate attention and discussed at the local joint Health and Safety Committee.

The National Logistics Safety Management Team will feed back to the CWU/HQ Health, Safety and Environment Department and to the RM Logistics/Trade Unions National Joint Health & Safety Committee.

The support of all CWU Area and Workplace Health and Safety Reps plus Distribution and Drivers Reps would be appreciated in encouraging local members to report any hazard or near miss.

The joint intention of Royal Mail Logistics and CWU remains that we work in a positive safety culture. To improve safety and encouraging openness, recognising issues and implementing controls.

In line with HSE strategy, Royal Mail will pro-actively involve, consult and inform CWU Safety Representatives in good time.

The intention of this new ‘STAR’ scheme is to proactively encourage staff to support and utilise the process in a “non-punitive”, “blame-free” culture by reporting all hazards, incidents, near misses, so as to identify issues early, ensure there’s a full investigation in to how the hazards or incidents happened, how the risks arise and how they might be prevented in future, so that we can stop accidents from happening. This gives employees a voice to help resolve safety related issues, helps us jointly develop an open culture whereby everyone shares and contributes in a responsible manner to their own safety and that of their fellow workers – NO BLAME!

Remember “STAR” is the right course of Action!

S = STOP.
T = THINK.
A = ACT.
R = REPORT.

Hazard definitions

• An Unsafe condition is defined as an unsatisfactory physical condition that exists at the workplace which could be a major contributor to an accident occurring if not rectified e.g., damaged equipment, pot holes etc.
• An Unsafe act is any act that deviates from a generally recognised safe system, safe way or specified method of doing a job and which increases the probabilities for an accident. It must contain an element of unsatisfactory behaviour immediately before an accident that was significant in initiating the event.
• If an incident occurs which does not result in an injury, but which clearly could have done, then it’s a ‘near miss’.
• A hazard is anything that is a source of potential damage, may cause harm, or adverse health effects on someone, such as chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, faulty equipment, bad lighting, uneven or slippery floor surface, an open drawer etc. The risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.

The PiC (Person in Charge) and Management are tasked with trying to resolve the issues and will regularly communicate updates through a ‘STAR’ Notice Board and via the Joint Health and Safety Committee Meetings and in consultation with CWU Health and Safety Reps. It may be that some issues take a while to resolve – staff can escalate issues through their CWU Reps if they don’t feel that Managers are taking the issue seriously enough.

The following Message and assurances to all employees is given by Royal Mail Logistics:

• The message to all employees is ‘please take the opportunity to submit any hazards you identify, however minor you think they are’.  RM Logistics wish to promote a culture of reporting with the support and help of all managers and supervisors.
• The support of all CWU Representatives is appreciated in encouraging employees within Logistics to report any hazards through the ‘STAR’ reporting process.
• The joint intention of Royal Mail and CWU remains that we work in a positive safety culture. To improve safety and encouraging openness, recognising issues and implementing controls in a ‘no blame culture’.
• In line with HSE strategy, Royal Mail will pro-actively involve, consult and inform CWU Safety Representatives in good time.
• The ‘STAR’ scheme intends to raise awareness, encourage employees to identify and report hazards, that can be jointly investigated, how the incidents happened, how risks arise, and how they might be prevented in future.
• The ‘STAR’ scheme is an essential piece of joint working, demonstrating a clear intention to improve and sustain safety performance in the workplace that will significantly reduce and sustain accident levels, in a “blame free” safety culture.
• ‘STAR’ was designed to give members a voice on safety issues and was not designed for disciplining individuals who raise issues and an anonymous option has been included in the reporting process to back this up. RM Logistics want all hazards and near misses to be identified, so remedial action can be implemented and prevent accidents from happening.
• In addition the Director of RM Logistics will be sending a letter to all managers requesting their personal commitment to ‘STAR’ and expressing his expectation of them which is to: lead by example; maintain and improve safety; not “walk by” and ignore issues; be respectful and trusting; promote an open, feedback-rich culture amongst the workforce; react swiftly to the discovery of unsafe acts or conditions; be transparent and fair; thoroughly investigate all accidents to identify the true root causes, looking beyond the individual’s actions i.e., systems, processes and management activities.
• This Process has nothing to do with ‘World Class Mail’ and is not connected with it in any way.

Attachments:

• ‘STAR’ WTLL Briefing
• ‘STAR’ Poster
• ‘STAR’ Near Miss/Hazard Report Card
• ‘STAR’ Staff Briefing PowerPoint Slides
• ‘STAR’ Management Briefing PowerPoint Slides
• ‘STAR’ RM Logistics/CWU Joint Statement

Note: It has been agreed that once stocks are exhausted a re-designed, improved Near Miss/Hazard Report Card will be introduced.

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB160 Royal Mail Logistics – Accident Near Miss & Hazard Reporting Process STAR (Stop, Think, Act, Report) – National Roll-Out

2.9.13.2 talkabout STAR (2)

Near Miss Presentation Managers briefing (2)

Near Miss Presentation Staff briefing (2)

RM Logistics-CWU-STAR-Joint Statement

RM04780 A2 Poster 28.03.18

RM04780 A5 Card 28.03.18

 

GDPR

Branches will recall LTB 077/19 issued on the 1st February 2019 which provided an update on the agreed Code of Practice around how both RMG and the CWU will move to a new process of data sharing that is unambiguous and not open to local interpretation.  The LTB further advised that CWU Representatives who need to receive data from RMG will be required to provide confirmation through a simple statement (attached) that allows Representatives to use their own device on accounts such as btinternet/hotmail/gmail etc.  Completed statements were to be forwarded to Laura Fleming at;

Royal Mail
Fourth Floor
185 Farringdon Road
London EC1A 1AA

Email: laura.fleming@royalmail.com

Further to this advice, RMG have since informed the Department of a change to the way in which electronic invoices are sent out for any ‘unpaid’ Union leave taken by branch members.  Both RMG and the CWU have agreed that in order to ensure Branch Secretaries and authorised substitutes continue to receive electronic invoices it will be necessary for those individuals to also sign the attached declaration to ensure that the two parties remain compliant with our obligations under GDPR.  Until the declaration is signed, Branch Secretaries will only receive a hard copy of the invoice.

The above process is to protect the personal details of CWU members taking Union leave and will further ensure we are fully GDPR compliant.  If you have not already received this, we anticipate a communication being sent out by Laura Fleming in the next few days seeking authorisation.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department quoting reference 10020.

Yours sincerely,

 

Terry Pullinger
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

19LTB154 – GDPR

19LTB154 – Appendix C

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UNIONLINE – INDEPENDENT REVIEW

 

The purpose of this LTB is to advise Branches that on the 28^th February the NEC agreed the outcome of the Independent Review on Unionline by endorsing the full report, its recommendations and my own set of recommendations which set out the union’s priorities going forward.

Branches will be aware the Independent Review of Unionline was in response to legitimate concerns around its financial performance, the future viability of the business and the level of services provided to our members.  Some of these concerns were also reflected in General Conference debate and policy.

The report is comprehensive and covers the following:

• The establishment of Unionline, its goals and expectations.
• A review of the initial agreements that set up the business.
• The governance and management structures and how it operates.
• The initial challenges faced by Unionline, the managerial response to these and the consequences of the strategies that have been pursued.
• The commercial relationship with our sister union and joint owner, the GMB.
• The financial performance of Unionline to date.
• The future outlook, sustainability and risks.
• Marketing and Services.

There is no doubt that the decision to undertake an independent review of Unionline has been fully justified and the report, its findings and recommendations represent another major piece of work designed to support the overall CWU Redesign Project.

The NEC recognises there is a demand within the union to understand more about what is happening with Unionline and its future viability.  Therefore, we are confident that this report will create a better understanding of the business and enable a more informed debate with our Branches.

However, whilst there is a clear need for transparency on the report, this must also be balanced with the need to protect the commercial interests of the CWU, GMB and PM Law (the day to day managers of the business).  We are also aware there will be a wider public interest from those in the legal profession who see Unionline as a direct competitor.

Having carefully considered the aforementioned, we can advise that we will be holding a National Briefing on a date yet to be arranged where Branches will be given a full presentation on the report, alongside appropriate documentation.

In the meantime, we have shared the report with the GMB as part of the ongoing dialogue we have had with our sister union since the report was initially commissioned.  These discussions will take precedence and we hope to be in a position to confirm a date and venue for the National Briefing in the near future.

Any enquires on the above LTB should be addressed to the gsoffice@cwu.org.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Ward

General Secretary
19LTB150 UNIONLINE – INDEPENDENT REVIEW

POST OFFICE: “SAVE OUR POST OFFICE” CAMPAIGN – PARLIAMENTARY EVENT AND RESULTS OF YOUGOV SURVEY

Further to LTB 129/19 dated 27th February. We are pleased to advise Branches that over 92,000 signatures have now been gathered in support of our Save Our Post Office campaign. This is an excellent response and we would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts in achieving this significant number. 

A small delegation will deliver the petitions to 10 Downing Street this afternoon following the event in Committee Room 6, Westminster at 1.30pm. Our Communications team will be supporting today’s activities and updates and photos etc will be provided through the usual social media channels and also via our website.

YouGov Survey Results Demonstrate Strong Opposition to Franchising

To coincide with the event in Westminster, we commissioned an independent survey conducted by YouGov on the future of the high street and the privatisation of Crown Post Offices. The key headlines clearly support CWU policies and our concerns surrounding the Post Office’s seriously flawed strategic direction. A press release highlighting the YouGov survey results below is attached to this LTB for your information.

• 68% are more worried about the future of the high street today compared to five years ago compared to 3% who are less worried 
• 81% have seen the closure of shops and services on their local high street over the past 5 years compared to 5% who have not 
• Just 12% of respondents support the programme of privatisation 
• 60% agree that a local community should have the power to veto the privatisation of a publicly owned post office in their local area, compared to 8% who do not. 

Thank you for your continued support in this crucial campaign.

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey – Assistant Secretary                    

Terry Pullinger – DGS(P)                

Dave Ward – General Secretary

19LTB149 Post Office – Save Our Post Office Campaign – Parliamentary Event and Results of YouGov SurveyAttachment 1 to 19LTB149 – CWUYouGov Poll PR – March 2019

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HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR DETAILS?

 

One of the most common complaints we hear around the time of Ballots / Elections is “I didn’t get a ballot paper.”

Often the reason for this is because the member has not informed us that they have recently moved (Branch and National ballots are sent to members home addresses). It is each members,responsibility to inform the Branch Secretary when there is any change in address, name or office (Royal Mail do not notify CWU of any changes)

If you have changed your details, please contact The Branch Secretary by emailbranch.secretary@cwue5.org or by Telephone01733 382512 / 077854 60070

Or see your Unit Representative for a form 

 

Andy Beeby 

Branch Secretary

CWU Eastern Number Five Branch

Click on the links below

contact-details.docx

https://cwue5.org/update-your-contact-details/

A NEW STRATEGY FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this LTB is to advise branches that on the 28^th February the NEC agreed a document setting out a new union wide approach to recruitment and organising.

The new approach is in line with the terms of Motion 50 agreed at last year’s general conference and is also a response to the growing need for the CWU to influence the sector our members work in and a wider world of work characterised by insecure, low cost employment models.

Whilst introducing significant changes, the new approach also recognises that a detailed strategy will take time to develop as part of an evolving process that will necessitate the whole Union working together in a very different and more collaborative way. This means there has to be a genuine willingness to think and work beyond constituency boundaries and harness the strengths and expertise that exists across the union. It also means that there has to be a real understanding that when it comes to the wider sector, the postal and T&FS constituencies start from very different places and the approach going forward will reflect this.

The key elements of the new approach are set out below:

• Investment in a new Head of Recruitment and Organising to develop, oversee and manage a new strategy on a day to day basis.
• The development of the detailed strategy to be supported by a new Recruitment and Organising Board comprising of the following – a Head of R&O, GS, SDGS, DGS (P), DGS (T), Head of Comms, Head of Research, and Head of Legal Services.
• A realignment of postal organisers to work within the wider postal sector and target new companies.
• The T&FS to continue with its current approach alongside improved reporting to the NEC and a clearer understanding going forward of the work within the sector that will be the responsibility of the central strategy team. This to be reviewed in 12 months against agreed criteria.
• Improved reporting and analysis of all membership data.
• The organisers to be utilised in a more flexible way to support targeted campaigns within the unions overall strategy.
• Given the increased profile of the CWU and our innovative communications approach, the Head of Communications will undertake a review of all R&O materials to strengthen the CWU identity and brand.
• Linking our recruitment and organising work to the CWUs and TUCs campaign on a New Deal for Workers.
• The overall strategy to be coordinated around the following three areas:

*The main companies

*The wider communication and financial services sectors

*Digital platforms/New World of Work/Gig economy

• A process to evaluate the work of our existing organisers.
• A major national event later this year to launch the new strategy.
• Greater clarity on the role of our new regional structure and branches in supporting recruitment and organising work. This to include a 2 way process to enable the widest possible opportunity for Regions and branches to input their ideas.
• A comprehensive communications plan to explain the new approach and the reasons for this to our representatives and members.
• The introduction of clear and transparent targets to measure the success or otherwise of our campaigns.
• Agreed timelines to ensure we monitor progress and deliver on what has been agreed.
• The SDGS to produce a plan on the investment required to support the new strategy as part of the redesign project, including a full breakdown of our existing expenditure in this area to maximise the effectiveness of this.

THE CONTEXT THE CWU NOW OPERATES WITHIN

The “Organising for the Future” booklet published to Branches last year clearly set out the major challenges we face and the wider context we are operating within. The importance of the whole union grasping this wider context simply cannot be ignored or overstated.

Firstly, alongside the fact we have lost almost 100k members since the 1995 merger, is the stark reality, in both constituencies, that our membership remains overwhelmingly in companies that arise out of the old General Post Office. In postal, less than 1% of our members come from outside of RM, POL, or the island operators. In Telecoms and Financial Services, whilst the membership is more diverse, more than 85% of our members are in BT, Santander, O2 (formally in BT) and EE (now part of the BT Group).

Secondly, in contrast to our decline, the wider communications sector has seen major growth in a non-unionised workforce, exploited by the emergence of new companies that rely mostly on insecure and low cost employment models.

Thirdly, we rightly pride ourselves on being the strongest UK workplace trade union and for years and years we have set the high benchmark on pay, terms and conditions across the sector. But we know this is a constant battle against the race to the bottom, something which our members have become increasingly aware of. Therefore, as these pressures grow, signs of which are clear in both the RMG and BT right now, the only way we will ultimately maintain our own industrial strength is by being at the forefront of a wider fight to reverse membership decline and organise workers across the sector. This is also exactly the same debate and thinking that represents the only chance to reverse the fortunes of the wider trade union movement in society.

The truth is, taking on this fight by throwing the full weight of the union behind a fresh strategy, is the very essence of trade unionism and the core value of what the movement exists for.

 

CONCLUSION

In the last few years the union has worked hard through Redesign to finally tackle the issues that threaten the future of the CWU, the wider trade union movement and that are shaping the world of work in a very detrimental way.

We have set a clear direction for the union that has been overwhelmingly supported by Conference. On one hand, this has been about getting even closer to our frontline reps and members to ensure that protecting and enhancing their terms and conditions will always be at the heart of everything the CWU stands for. On the other hand, it has been about expanding and connecting the above thinking to the growing pressures that all workers face as a direct result of the political and economic forces that stand in our way.

The direction we have set is both challenging and ambitious in that it means we are serious about mobilising to rebuild the trade union movement, improve the lives of our members and all workers and to work towards fundamental political change.

Finally, whilst all branches will understand that there are no easy solutions to drive membership growth, we are confident that by working together in a more joined up way, we will ensure the CWU builds a more effective recruitment and organising strategy.

Further information on the New Strategy for Membership Growth will be sent to Branches in due course.

Any enquiries on the content of this LTB please forward to gsoffice@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Ward

General Secretary

19LTB147 – A new strategy for membership growth