Royal Mail Group – Flu Inoculation Voucher Campaign:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

Further to LTBs 488/18 and 497/18 a number of questions were raised.

Two of the main enquiries are answered as follows:-

• New Recruits are included in the ‘Free Flu Jab’ scheme.

• Any member 15 miles or over from a Lloyds Pharmacy can use an alternative company Chemist more conveniently located to obtain the Flu Jab and will be reimbursed on provision of a receipt, paid via T&S.

There were also requests for two NHS posters; ‘Catch it. Bin it. Kill it.’ and ‘Guidance for Hand-Washing’ which are attached to this LTB.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB525 Royal Mail Group – Flu Inoculation Voucher Campaign

NHS Winter Health

Wash_Your_Hands

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CWU Mental Health Strategy – A Way Forward

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The purpose of this LTB is to outline progress in developing a comprehensive CWU Mental Health Strategy (CWU MHS), as required by Motion 69 carried at General Conference 2018.

The motion instructs the NEC to work with the Young Workers National Committee and appropriate HQ departments including Health & Safety and Equality Departments, to assist in developing such a strategy. It states that the project should consider:

• Developing a working relationship with organisations/charities to develop and execute the strategy

• A joined up training programme

• The most effective methods of communicating with branches, reps and members on the issue

• Support for reps who deal with members who have mental health issues

• Support for reps affected by the increasing stress of the job

• Measures to ensure the strategy is working effectively

As highlighted in the motion, the CWU has done some excellent work at branch, regional and national level to raise awareness of mental health and its impact on individuals.

The NEC has discussed this matter at a recent meeting, and noted that the work we have done to date and the approach going forward is in itself a good example of how we would see CWU future strategy being developed in a more joined up way. There is no doubt that the issue of mental health impacts on the general work of the union, our industrial constituency work, how we support all our representatives and how we address these issues in wider society. Therefore, the most effective approach will be to build an overall strategy together, and as part of this the industrial constituencies will then take responsibility where appropriate.

A Project Team has been set up, under the direction of the General Secretary, to develop, implement and monitor the CWU Mental Health Strategy. Its inaugural meeting was held on 28/8/18.

Its core members are:

Health & Safety Dept. – Dave Joyce (Lead Officer)

Health & Safety Dept. – Gerard Harkin (Policy Advisor Support)

Research Dept. – Bill Taylor

NEC: T&FSE x 2 – Tracy Fussey and Tom Cooper

PEC x 2 – Steve Jones and Carl Maden

Equality Dept. – Fevzi Hussein

Education & Training Dept. – Paul Dovey

Young Workers Dept. – Jo Thair

Steve Jones will Chair the Project Team.

As work progresses on the strategy, the output will be reported to the NEC by the General Secretary.

The Project Team is aware that there have been some excellent local and Regional mental health initiatives and believes that a greater knowledge of this activity could greatly assist their work. Branches and Regions are therefore requested to feed back local initiatives to the Project Team through Dave Joyce (djoyce@cwu.org).

Attached for information is the GC Motion 69 2018 and NEC Document 124/18.

Yours Sincerely,

Dave Joyce – National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

Dave Ward – General Secretary 

18LTB516 CWU Mental Health Strategy – A Way Forward

Amended CWU Mental Health Strategy Document

MOTION 69 CATEGORY A GENERAL CONFERENCE

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World Suicide Prevention day – Monday 10 September 2018:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

World Suicide Prevention Day is an annual awareness raising event held each year on 10 September reaching out to people who may be struggling to cope.

It’s about raising awareness and connecting with others and letting people who may be struggling to cope or in distress know that “IT’S OK TO TALK”.

Background

This worldwide event is ‎organised by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the ‎World Health Organisation (WHO). Various events and activities are held to raise awareness that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death.

Nearly 3000 people on average die by suicide daily, according to WHO. For every person who completes a suicide, 20 or more may attempt to end their lives. About one million people die by suicide each year. Suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death which is influenced by psychosocial, cultural and environmental risk factors that can be prevented through worldwide responses that address these main risk factors. There is strong evidence indicating that adequate prevention can reduce suicide rates.

World Suicide Prevention Day, which first started in 2003, is annually held on September 10 each year as an IASP initiative. The WHO co-sponsors this event. World Suicide Prevention Day aims to:

• Raise awareness that suicide is preventable.

• Improve education about suicide.

• Spread information about suicide awareness.

• Decrease stigmatisation regarding suicide.

The WHO and IASP work with governments and other partners to ensure that suicide is no longer stigmatised, criminalised or penalised. The WHO’s role is to build political action and leadership to develop national responses to prevent suicide, strengthen national planning capacity to establish the core building blocks of such a national response, and build the national capacities to implement these responses.

Why is it important?

More than 800,000 people take their lives each year across the world. In the UK and ROI, more than 6,000 people die by suicide a year – an average of 18 a day.

Reaching out to people who are going through a difficult time can be a game changer. People who are feeling low or suicidal often feel worthless and think that no-one cares. Small things like hearing from friends or family, feeling listened to by a colleague or just being told that ‘it’s ok to talk’ can make a huge difference.

What you can do

Start a conversation today if you think a friend, colleague or family member may be struggling or in distress. You can also spread the word.

When a person reaches a point where they are focused on taking their life, they’ve often lost sight of trying to find a way through their problems. This period usually only lasts a short while and often it doesn’t take a huge amount to bring someone back from that decision – something as simple as saying, ‘it’s ok to talk’ can be enough to move someone out of suicidal crisis.

How can people reach out?

It can be daunting to approach someone who is struggling to cope; you may not know what to say, or worry that you’ll make things worse. However, you don’t need to be an expert. Often, just asking if someone’s OK and letting them know you’re listening can give people the confidence to open up about how they’re feeling.

Other sources of information

The Samaritans are a well-known UK charity that is there round the clock every single day of the year for anyone struggling to cope. If you’re worried about someone, or would like emotional support yourself, please ‎get in touch with the Samaritans:

Freepost RSRB-KKBY-CYJK
PO Box 9090
STIRLING
FK8 2SA

T: 116 123 (UK)

T: 116 123 (ROI)

E: jo@samaritans.org (UK)

E: jo@samaritans.ie (ROI)

https://www.samaritans.org/

Attachment:

• World Suicide Prevention Day Newsletter

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB515 World Suicide Prevention day – Monday 10 September 2018

2018_WSPD_Newsletter

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National Branch Secretaries Briefing 5th September 2018

Branch Secretaries were called to this briefing with Terry Pullinger (DGSP) to update branches on how the Four Pillars Agreement was working.

Pensions Update

The Government is to announce a White Paper consultation on introduction of CDC schemes in the Autumn, once this has taken place a new Pensions Bill will be placed before Parliament.

Holiday Pay – Average Pay

CWU HQ’s believe legal principle has been set and want to achieve agreement. Royal Mail are considering their position but don’t believe precedent has been set

National talks to continue with the potential for legal cases to go forward if needed

All CWU Members will receive a letter from HQ’s that they must return to Branch Secretaries showing how much regular overtime they perform

HQ’s will then use the returned examples and go to ACAS for joint conciliation and potential employment tribunal, however our aim is to put pressure on Royal Mail and seek a collective agreement with the employer

Scheduled Attendance (SA) – 12 Hour Limit

At present there are around 2000 people working more than 12 hours Schedule Attendance per week. HQ’s have requested a breakdown of the details.

The status quo remains during the national talks, and the outcome is heavily linked to the outcome of the talks on average holiday Pay

Night Workers – Working Time Directive

Night Workers are currently covered by the Way Forward Agreement, but Royal Mail’s internal legal people, now believe the agreement breaks the Working Time Directive and the Working week, in their view, should be limited to 48 hours per week for Night Workers.

Legal teams from both sides are due to meet and the status quo applies in the interim

Workplace Culture

Royal Mail have reported big dips in letter traffic and revenue due to the new Data Protection Laws which came into force in May of this year. Quality of Service is also down, which means Managers are under pressure from the Royal Mail Board to turn everything around

It has always been the CWU’s aim to address cultural issues via the 4 Pillars agreement, hence the recent video from Terry Pullinger. Following the video, all replies from members are being collated and Offices and Branches which are identified as having cultural issues will be contacted by CWU HQ’s and the offices concerned will then be visited by the CWU.

In addition, to the above HQ’s have requested details from Divisional Reps of three offices in which they believe culture is not an issue, and they will receive a joint visit from Royal Mail and CWU to see what they are doing differently to identify best practice

We need to be persistent and identify and resolve the workplace culture issues

Terry expects Branches to visit offices where there are cultural issues and deal with them via our IR Framework agreement, He also explained that this is the start of dealing with the issues, and that he expected Branches to develop action plans to be proactive in dealing with cultural issues

Shorter Working Week

Plans are well advanced to introduce the 1-hour reduction in the working week in October for all members in all functions at the same time

Andy Beeby

Branch Secretary

European H&S Week 22-28 October 2018 – Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances:

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The theme for European Health & Safety Week 2018, organised by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), is ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances’. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by dangerous substances in the workplace and to promote a culture of risk prevention to eliminate and, where that’s not possible, effectively manage these risks.

Many workers across Europe are affected by exposure to dangerous substances. In recent decades some substances, such as asbestos, have been banned, restricted or subjected to strict regulatory control. However, dangerous substances continue to be a major safety and health issue in some workplaces.

For the purposes of this campaign, a dangerous substance is any substance in gas, liquid or solid form, including aerosols, fumes and vapours, that can pose a risk to workers’ health or safety. This includes manufactured chemicals, process-generated substances such as diesel exhaust or silica dust, and naturally occurring substances used in work processes such as crude oil or flour dust

Exposure to dangerous substances is much more common in Europe’s workplaces than most people imagine. Dangerous substances at work can cause a wide range of health problems and diseases, as well as posing safety risks. The 2018-19 campaign  aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by dangerous substances in the workplace and to promote a culture of risk prevention.

Campaign objectives

• To raise awareness of the importance of preventing risks from dangerous substances, helping to dispel common misunderstandings.

• To promote risk assessment by providing information on practical tools and creating opportunities to share good practices, focusing specifically on:

• – eliminating or substituting dangerous substances in the workplace

• – the hierarchy of prevention measures (i.e. following the hierarchy outlined in legislation so that the most effective type of measure is always selected).

• To heighten awareness of risks linked to exposures to carcinogens at work by supporting the exchange of good practices; EU-OSHA is a signatory to the covenant committing to the EU Carcinogens Roadmap.

• To target groups of workers with specific needs and higher levels of risks by providing tailored information as well as examples of good practices. The risks might be higher because these workers are inexperienced, uninformed or physically more vulnerable, or because they frequently change jobs, or work in sectors where awareness of the issue is low, or because of a higher or different physiological sensitivity (e.g. in young apprentices, or differences between men and women).

• To increase knowledge of the legislative framework that is already in place to protect workers, as well as highlighting policy developments.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

18LTB503 European H&S Week 22-28 October 2018 – Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances

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