Dog Safety – High Impact Units (HIU) Joint Royal Mail/CWU Campaign

Dear Colleagues,

This LTB is being issued as an important follow up to LTB No. 573/2018, dated 10 October 2018.  Would all ASRs please give this matter their urgent attention.

A review of the RM/CWU Dog Attacks, National Joint High Impact Units (HIU) Campaign strategy has demonstrated that the Phase 1 aspect of the approach has been proving to be successful in those units where the ASRs have attended. This is great news which has resulted in an agreed action from the National Joint Dog Attacks Working Group for Phase 1 to continue with the aim of completing as many of the identified HIUs by the end of March 2019.  Please continue into April if need be but in order to take the maximum opportunity from the joint approach we want to maintain the penetration of the campaign and the RMG SHE Advisor will be feeding back to the National Dog Attack Working Group in May when it meets.

The campaign visits to the High Impact Units is clearly raising awareness and raising the profile of the issue amongst Delivery staff and it’s important that it continues.

Phase 1:

As a reminder, the agreed Phase 1 approach part of the campaign requires the CWU ASRs to attend the identified HIUs within their constituency areas, as per the previous LTB No. 573/2018, issued on 10 October 2018. ASRs will then set up flip charts or comms boards, hand out the CWU ‘Dog Attacks on Postal Workers Booklets’, then talk to staff either via collective ASR led WTLL sessions, one to ones or through other engagement opportunities and share the various Dog Attack information within the HIU pack with the workforce, discussing how to avoid a dog attack, focussing in particular on the effects of a dog attack by using the graphic materials from the publication ‘Dog Attacks on Postal Workers’. Additionally the sessions will cover the importance of reporting and recording incidents.

Phase 2:

This involved the SHE Advisors and ASRs following up the previously visited Phase 1 HIUs and deploying the use of the dog training video using the ‘Virtual Reality Kit’. All the instructions for phase 2 were contained in the attachments to LTB 572/18‎. Utilising and involving the CWU Workplace Safety Reps is also key to this part of the campaign initiative.

Full support and involvement of CWU ASRs in this campaign would be much appreciated and indeed is fully agreed and sanctioned by Royal Mail HQ.  The provision and use of the ‘Virtual Reality Kits’ will continue until further notice. We have requested the provision of additional kits. A laptop version of the Dog Training Video is also available.

Would all ASRs please give this priority attention and contact your RMG SHE Advisor to discuss taking the above programme forward ASAP.

Attachments:

• 18LTB573 Dog Safety – High Impact Units HIU Joint Royal Mail CWU Campaign
• Campaign Board Header
• OPL – Delivering Parcels – AVOID being attacked on the doorstep
• OPL Dog Behind Letter Box)
• OPL USING P6705 STICKER v1.1
• Royal Mail Virtual Reality Facilitation Guide_v1.0 (3)
• SWAN SYSTEM (Return Letter Receptacle) v1 2
• Virtual Reality Attendance Sheet

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB130 Dog Safety – High Impact Units (HIU) Joint Royal Mail CWU Campaign

18LTB573 Dog Safety – High Impact Units HIU Joint Royal Mail CWU Campaign

HIU Campaign Board Header

OPL – Delivering Parcels – AVOID being attacked on the doorstep

OPL Dog Behind Letter Box)

OPL USING P6705 STICKER v1.1

Royal Mail Virtual Reality Facilitation Guide_v1.0 (3)

SWAN SYSTEM (Return Letter Recepticle) v1 2

Virtual Reality Attendance Sheet

POST OFFICE: “SAVE OUR POST OFFICE” CAMPAIGN – PARLIAMENTARY EVENT 11TH MARCH

Further to LTB 017/19 dated 15th January. 

As Branches are aware, we have been gathering signatures for a national petition against the franchising of Crown Post Offices to WH Smith and with the support of our activists, politicians and the public we are now on our way to gaining our target of c.100,000 signatures. With a final push over the next ten days we can reach this total and we are now asking Branches to make every effort to gather as many signatures as possible. The petition is attached to this LTB or can be signed using our Microsite: www.saveourpostoffice.co.uk

Our plan is to deliver these petitions to 10 Downing Street on 11th March and we will also be holding an event in Westminster on this date which we are expecting a number of MPs and key stakeholders to attend. The details are as follows: 

Save Our Post Office Campaign – Event in Parliament

Monday 11th March 2019

• 1.30-2.30pm Meeting in Committee Room 6, House of Commons with Dave Ward, General Secretary addressing the rally and with other speakers tbc. Dot Gibson from the National Pensioners Convention is an early confirmed speaker. 
• 2.30 – 2.45pm Photo Opportunity on Parliament Green
• 2.45pm – 3pm MPs and a small delegation of 6 including Dave Ward and Andy Furey walk to 10 Downing Street and deliver petitions.

Regional Secretaries, Branch Secretaries, Branch Political Officers, all Branches, and Representatives (employed by Post Office) are encouraged to show their support by attending the rally in Committee Room 6 on 11th March, and to be a part of the photo on Parliament Green. Your support in this important campaign to secure the future of the Crown Office network is appreciated. 

All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Post Offices

A meeting of the APPG, chaired by Gill Furniss MP, Shadow BEIS Minister was held late yesterday afternoon. Andy Furey, Assistant Secretary and Natasha Burgess, Political Advisor were in attendance. MPs from the three largest parties – Labour, Conservative and SNP – heard evidence from Citizens Advice, the Association of Convenience Stores, the Countryside Alliance and the Federation of Small Businesses, about the impact on high streets and rural areas of losing Post Offices.

Andy Furey questioned Citizens Advice about the toothless code of practice they have with the Post Office with regard to franchising.

MPs left in agreement that their suspicions and concerns about franchising had been confirmed by the evidence they had heard and they are looking forward to questioning the Minister, who has said she will attend a future meeting of the APPG.

Following the APPG, Gill Furniss provided the following statement:

“The Post Office APPG has developed into an extremely worthwhile and effective activity. The progress made by this forum has been truly amazing and the engagement with parliamentarians from across the various parties together with representatives from the key stakeholders is first class.

I was particularly pleased to see the involvement from the Federation of Small Businesses, Association of Convenience Stores, Citizens Advice and the Countryside Alliance at our recent meeting. It was also satisfying to hear how much the Post Office is cherished as an institution that should be protected and developed for the use of everyone in society”

Securing the Future of the Post Office – Post Bank

As discussed at the National Briefing last year, it is crucial that alongside our campaign against the franchise/closure programme we shift the debate onto a positive vision for the Post Office for the future. As part of this, the Union has commissioned an independent report building on the pledges in Labour’s manifesto for a Post Bank and for other elements of a new system of public banking (such as a National Investment Bank).

The report will provide a thorough analysis of the current problems within the UK banking system and set out how a Post Bank has a key role to play in addressing these. It will also set out how the commitment on a Post Bank would fit together with the other proposals Labour made in its manifesto, which is an important piece of work that would be needed for this to be moved forward if we can secure a Labour government. The aim is to publish the report with a launch event prior to or during annual conference and further details will be provided to Branches at the earliest opportunity.

Local Campaigning Activities

Branches are encouraged to email details of any relevant local campaign activities, photos etc. to Natasha Burgess, Political Advisor, GS Dept – nburgess@cwu.org who is liaising with our Communications Dept in terms of gaining as much publicity as possible via our website, Microsite and social media. We are planning to update the Save Our Post Office Microsite to include information on all local activities against franchising, press and media coverage etc. If Branches require the assistance of a Postal Executive member at public meetings, please email lsheridan@cwu.org

Thank you for your continued support in this crucial campaign and once again we would urge all Branches to do everything possible to increase the number of signatures to the Save Our Post Office petition prior to 11th March. 

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey – Assistant Secretary                           

Terry Pullinger – DGS(P)           

Dave Ward – General Secretary

19LTB129 Post Office – Save Our Post Office Campaign – Parliamentary Event 11th March

Attachment 1 to LTB129-19 – Petition

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2158241937588607&id=981299138616232

Two important videos for you to share with members.

First one is DGSP Terry Pullinger launching the Unit Rep’s tour https://www.facebook.com/981299138616232/posts/2155278094551658?sfns=mo

Second one is GS Dave Ward using all branches to attend the UN Anti-Racism event on 16th March

BAME OFFICER ANNUAL REPORT

Dear Colleague’s,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continues support for the past year. The role of Black Asian Minority Ethnic officer is somewhat different, interesting and at times challenging from other union IR roles; challenging because it is not fully equipped and established yet, interesting because you learn so much about different ethnic culture’s and it’s not all about work, but also raising awareness of the challenges/barriers BAME people face at work or in the community. Since being elected as BAME officer I have been able to establish the role of BAME officer within the CWU branch in Peterborough mail centre. I had the privilege to help BAME members, all CWU members and especially Agency workers (future members) to make full use of their “working rights” which the UNIONS have fought for them over the years, to the best of my knowledge. Wherever possible, I have been able to direct them to right places to seek help/advice on issues such as immigration, housing, health and wellbeing, social and cultural activities etc, besides help on work related issues from other IR reps. 

I have attended Branch committee meetings with reports, Black workers annual conference, CWU annual conference and BAME seminars. Locally, I established contacts with various minorities groups such as Peterborough Interfaith Council, refugees help centre, food banks, homeless charities etc. These are organisations who are helping community cohesions and improve lives in the local communities. I have used “Black history month” and other occasions to highlight the stories about contributions/differences made by Black people to the British society. Recent uncertainty over Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit) has not helped the BAME communities, but the ‘hate crime’ has not gone up as it was predicted it will near this time; even though last year has been full of news which exposed the shameful ‘Windrush generation’ scandal of the UK Government’s.

This year after independent review by Baroness McGregor-Smith into the issues effecting the BAME workers, it said up to £24 billion a year could be added to the British economy if opportunities are created for BAME workers to progress in their careers, the government has commissioned a research to find out what steps businesses are taking to promote more diversity at work and to combat the ethnic pay gap. Personally I don’t believe people should be given promotions just for the sake of political correctness, it’s not a long term solution for complex issues and could lead to ethnic segregation. Something the local Branch needs to be addressing on similar lines is, why the “equality group/committee” has not been functioning for years?, to help bring these issues in mainstream, our success ultimately depends on this. 

I have carried this role with minimum expense to the branch doing most of the work in my own time. I have enjoyed my role as BAME officer. I like to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues who have been positive and provided valuable information in their own capacity. I believe my role as first contact point has helped many BAME members to build confidence to seek help and advice from other IR REPS and to get involved, support /engage (four pillars campaign) and feel part of the CWU. CWU has a proud history of campaigning on equality issues. With your support I shall continue to fulfil this role for the rest of the year to the best of my ability. Thank you all for providing me with this opportunity to learn and serve. “Together we are stronger”.

  Jasbir Singh

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Roof Work Safety In Royal Mail Group Buildings – Maintenance & Repairs by RMPFS & Contractors

Working on roofs is a high-risk activity because it involves working at height. Roof workers make up a quarter of all workers killed in falls from height at work. Falls from or through fragile roofs account for more of these deaths than any other single cause. Not all those who are killed while working on roofs are trained roof workers. There are also many serious injuries, often resulting in permanent disabilities. Sadly there have been several roof fall fatalities and serious injuries in Royal Mail Group properties over the years and RMG/CWU jointly don’t want to see any more.

CWU Area Safety Reps should be involved and consulted at pre-start meetings prior to any works commencing in their postcode constituency areas and are right to insist that those managing and undertaking the roof work need to produce a Site Specific Risk Assessment and Work Method Statement for the work to be undertaken.

Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (PFS) has recently tightened up its access arrangements for roof work.  Using a roof as a platform to work from is inherently dangerous, and should be avoided wherever possible. There continues to be a significant risk from people falling from the leading edge of roofs or through fragile roof material e.g. skylights. Such incidents usually result in fatal or life changing injuries. In recognition of this fact Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (RMPFS) has tightened up its access arrangements in relation to this matter and in RMG buildings. No contractor or consultant is allowed to set foot on a roof without prior RMPFS authorisation.

Those controlling and managing roof work must plan for safety and determine who will supervise the job ‘on site’ and check that the system is effectively controlling risks, how they will ensure workers are trained and competent and that they work to the ‘method statement’, taking account of fragility, safe access to the roof, that there’s a safe system and safe place of work on the roof and that falls can be prevented. Weather conditions need to be taken into account. They need to take account of electricity, ensure there’s an escape route in case of fire, that there is Fall Arrest Systems Equipment, Scaffolds are erected safely, there is safe use of any mobile access equipment and ladders, only trained and competent staff must be used and that CDM requirements are met.

RMG Roof Work Communications Issued This Week:

Roof Access Arrangements 

Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (PFS) has recently tightened up its access arrangements for roof work.  Using a roof as a platform to work from is inherently dangerous, and should be avoided wherever possible.  Significant risks exist in relation to falling from the leading edge of roofs or through fragile roof material such as skylights – these incidents usually result in fatal or life changing injuries.  PFS has therefore communicated updated roof access rules to all PFS employees, the contracts team and RMG suppliers.  It is important that PIC’s are aware of the risks surrounding roof work and in particular that roof work is now only permitted in daylight hours in RMG owned sites:

PICs in RMG Owned Buildings 

All contractors or consultants must have prior PFS authorisation before being allowed to set foot on a roof. No contractors or consultants are allowed to set foot on a roof between sunset and sunrise (times available from www.timeanddate.com). PIC’s must not allow any roof work to be carried outside of daylight hours. All workers accessing roofs, (including those undertaking surveys and short duration work) must be trained specifically in work at height and accessing roofs. Contractors must have a ‘Risk Assessment and ‘Work Method Statements’ that are specific to the site. (Generic Risk Assessments are not adequate or acceptable). These will have already been checked and authorised by persons appointed by RMPFS but the PIC must ask the contractor to explain their work method statement. The PIC must also discuss any risks to people on site and how this will be managed during the work.  Similarly PIC’s must also advise the contractors of any RMG activity that may impact upon them and their safety whilst on site.

PICs in leased Buildings 

Where RMG is a tenant in a building and therefore not the landlord, some different arrangements apply. If RMP&FS have commissioned the work, they will have obtained the landlord’s consent to carry out the work and the above rules then apply.  Where the landlord has commissioned the work, the landlord is responsible for authorising how the work will be carried out and establishing rules for roof access.  In this instance, RMPFS must liaise with the PIC to ensure that adequate arrangements are in place to protect RMG staff and the public for the duration of the works.

Remember that the PIC is authorised and permitted to stop a contractor working if they are working unsafely – in this instance it must be reported to the PFS Helpdesk. 

Advice is also available from the local RMG SHE Advisor.

CWU ASRs will be fully involved and consulted pre-start and during any roof work.

See attached: 

• RMG SHE Standard 10.1 – Selection and Working with Contractors Guide
• RMG Contractors Health & Safety Guide/Pocket Card
• RMPFS Roof Work Communication Jan 2019
• HSE Health & Safety in Roof Work HSG33

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

19LTB121 Roof Work Safety In Royal Mail Group Buildings – Maintenance & Repairs by RMPFS & Contractors

HSE Health Safety in Roof Work HSG33

RMG Contractor Safety Guide

RMPFS Roof Work Communication Jan 2019

Selection + Management of Contractors Guidance (Appendix 2) (v1.1)