Message from the GS on Postal Workers Day #RiseUp

 

Colleagues,

Here is our joint Christmas Advert with Momentum. Please share it as widely as possible. John Lewis eat your heart out #RiseUp

Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (RMPFS) – Winter Gritting and Snow Clearing Communication 2017/18

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions in conjunction with the Royal Mail Safety Health and Environment Team have refreshed the Winter Gritting and Snow Clearing Communication 2017/18, a copy of which is attached.

This covers both RMG sites that are on the contracted gritting service schedule and additionally ‘self-grit’ plus those sites that are ‘self-grit’ only.

A contract is in place for grit supplies with RMG’s appointed contractor ISS (Litterboss) and this will cover the period from October 2017 to the end of April 2018.

Gritting occurs when the Met Office’s six hourly report indicates that;

• the road temperature will be 0º centigrade between midnight and 6am the next morning,

• and the weather condition is predicted to be damp, wet, ice or snowing

In the event of non-attendance by the gritting contractor or when a snap frost occurs requiring gritting, Office Managers (PICs) should contact the Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (RMP&FS) Helpdesk on 0844 800 9191 and request that the contractor attends the site.

The contracted gritting and snow clearance service includes:

• Gritting and snow clearance services that will be carried out to hard-surfaces, including loading bays, access roads, walkways and all car parks (RMG vehicles and both employee and public parking) that RMG both owns or manages.

• Gritting and snow clearance services must be completed before 07:00 – the service will generally be undertaken between Midnight and 7am.

• Gritting and snow clearance services will not occur under vehicles.

• RMG managers on site may not override or cancel any reactive gritting or snow clearance service which has been triggered by the Met Office weather report.

• Gritting and snow clearance will, under normal circumstances, be performed ONCE per day. (Additional gritting or snow clearance requests can be put through the P&FS Helpdesk with the additional cost needing to be cleared via “Demand Challenge” in the Business Unit concerned.

• In advance and on completion of each gritting service a confirmation email will be sent to the nominated site contact (PIC) email address.

• Where an office is closed and there is not a Royal Mail manager/employee on site, the gritting contractor has been authorised to access the yard and given keys, access codes or swipe cards as appropriate. The yard shall be left secure on completion of the service.

Any concerns or disputes over the service provided, PICs/Managers should contact the P&FS Helpdesk on 0844 800 9191.

Self-Gritting:

All sites order their own grit and snow clearing equipment during the summer months for use during the winter if required. This includes sites that have contracted gritting services as well as those that do not. Surplus grit stocks and snow clearing equipment will be stored safely and securely on site and utilised the following year.

Prior to any self-gritting and snow clearing, a proper health and safety risk assessment must be undertaken and safe systems of work must be followed at all times.

RMGP&FS advise that following best practices helps reduce the risks as follows:

• Monitor the weather forecast to ensure that gritting takes place before the snow and ice arrives for precautionary cover.

• Prioritise the grit and snow clearing on sites, notably callers’ office walkways, steps, slopes, staff entrances, yards, etc.

• Ensure that gritting and snow clearing occurs with minimum risk to those performing the task, i.e. when no vehicles are moving in the yard.

• Where appropriate, PPE must be worn – e.g. hi-vis, waterproofs, gloves etc. as required.

• Bags of grit weigh 20kg. Therefore, the correct manual handling techniques, training and SSoW must be applied when moving these. They should be opened safely and handled in small amounts at a time when placing the grit/salt into the grit/salt spreader.

• To assist in the amount of grit required, RMP&FS have calculated that a 20kg bag will cover:

• Precautionary cover; 10/15 grams per m² – this equates to approx.1,700m² per 20kg bag (your yard size should be within your site log book).

• Ice and snow cover; 20/40 grams per m² – this equates to approx. 800m² per 20kg bag (your yard size should be within your site log book).

Note: PICs or a PIC Nominated, Trained Person will be responsible for the above.

It is difficult to obtain emergency supplies of grit once the snow and ice has arrived so stocks should always be in place ahead of severe weather and it can always be used next year.

For further information PICs/Managers should contact their Regional or Business Union “Demand Challenge Team” via normal communication routes.

Or:-

Ray Young Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions Contracts Manager Tel: 078 0179 3170 Email: ray.a.young@royalmail.com

Mick Harrott Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (Gritting Service Lead) Tel: 078 8912 3294 Email: mick.harrott@royalmail.com

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

17LTB666 Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions (RMPFS) – Winter Gritting and Snow Clearing Communication 201718

RMPFS Winter Gritting and Snow Clearing Refresh Comms Oct 2017 V3

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Jeremy Corbyns National Postal Workers Day video

#RiseUp

Terry Pullinger on the eve of National Postal Workers Day.

Keep an eye out tomorrow for further videos from Dave Ward, Jeremy Corbyn plus one or two special surprises.

Please do your best to get involved online using #RiseUp

BT Pension Review: Facebook Live Q&A

Please be advised that we are holding a Facebook Live event next week on:

Wednesday 13th December at 6pm

Please advertise this event with your members as widely as possible using email, social media text or just talking to people. We welcome any questions in advance and these should be sent via the dedicated mobile Whatsapp group. You can also send to Charlie Pullinger at cpullinger@cwu.org

Any questions in relation to this LTB please email nmarshall@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Andy Kerr

Deputy General Secretary (T&FS)

665.2017

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HSE Settles Judicial Review Brought by OCS Group on FFI Charges before High Court Hearing

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has reached an out of court settlement with OCS Group who had launched a judicial review of the HSE’s cost recovery process. The planned High Court hearing was due to be heard in March.

OCS Group, an international facilities management company, was granted permission for the judicial review in September 2016.

The matter under review was the process used by HSE for handling challenges to its charges for visiting workplaces, under its Fee for Intervention (FFI) scheme.

FFI was introduced in October 2012 in an effort to pass on the costs of health and safety monitoring and compliance to businesses and organisations rather than have them paid for via taxation through government funding of the HSE.

In practice, this means that if an HSE inspector visits a workplace and is of the opinion there have been breaches of health and safety legislation then the organisation is required to pay the HSE’s costs for its visit and any subsequent investigation or prosecution.

In the case of disagreement over whether there were breaches or the level of those costs charged, a dispute resolution panel consisting of two HSE representatives and an independent person sat to decide the matter.

OCS Group said in a statement that they are a safety-focussed organisation and have a good working relationship with the Health and Safety Executive, however the decision to ask for a judicial review of the Fee for Intervention (FFI) dispute resolution process was not about opposing the idea of FFI but about addressing concerns about the independence, fairness and transparency of the dispute process in which the HSE effectively acted as prosecution, judge and jury.

The HSE agreed to introduce a revised process for determining disputes before the end of 2017 which will be completely independent and addresses the concerns.

Both sides announced they were pleased to have reached agreement which brings in a revised process for determining disputes.

In the terms of the consent order entered into by both parties, the HSE has withdrawn its original August 2014 notice of contravention in which it alleged failures in the management of Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) by OCS Group staff.

The Fee for intervention (FFI) scheme applies to companies and organisations found to be in breach of health and safety law by a HSE Inspector. Those companies and organisations will have to pay for the time it takes the HSE to identify the breach and help companies put things right. This includes investigating and taking enforcement action and is called fee for intervention (FFI). The FFI hourly rate is £129. Those invoiced must pay any invoice within 30 days. Those who disagree with the fee incurred can query the invoice, the FFI team at the HSE will consider it and if still not satisfied with the response, it can be disputed and then referred to an ‘independent disputes panel’.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

17LTB664 HSE Settles Judicial Review Brought by OCS Group on FFI Charges before High Court Hearing

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Killer Drivers To Face Life Prison Sentences in Government Plans To Toughen Penalties For Most Serious Driving Offences

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The government has announced plans to further toughen prison sentences for those drivers convicted of driving offences leading to death.

This decision further turns the spotlight on at-work driver safety and management focus on occupational road risk management in respect of both company fleets and privately-owned vehicles driven on business journeys.

Following a public consultation and overwhelming support from the public, victim’s families and road safety campaigners, the Ministry of Justice announced the government’s intention to:-

 Introduce life sentences for those who cause death by dangerous driving (up from a current maximum of 14 years), and for careless drivers who kill while under the influence of drink or drugs (up from a current maximum of 14 years).

 Introduce a new offence of causing serious injury through careless driving.

Ministers said that drivers who caused death by speeding, racing, or using a mobile phone could face sentences equivalent to manslaughter, with maximum penalties raised from 14 years to Life. Legislation required for the measures is expected to be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.

The Ministry of Justice said it intended to give further consideration to the maximum penalty for the new offence of causing serious injury through careless driving. The Minister confirmed that the government had taken a long hard look at driving sentences, and said that the Public Consultation received 9,000 submissions. Based on the seriousness of the worst cases, the anguish of the victims’ families, and maximum penalties for other serious offences such as manslaughter, they intend to introduce life sentences of imprisonment for those who wreck lives by driving dangerously, drunk or high on drugs.

On the new additional offence of causing serious injury by careless driving, the Minister stated that government will introduce the new offence, punishable by imprisonment, to fill a gap in the law and reflect the seriousness of some of the injuries suffered by victims in this category of case.

The consultation sought views on whether current maximum penalties available to the courts should be increased. A total of 90% of respondents supported the proposals and also thought there should be a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving. They noted that without a specific offence which reflected the harm caused, offenders could only be convicted of a careless driving offence that had a maximum penalty of a fine.

Last year, 157 people were sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving, with a further 32 convicted of causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs.

With a huge number of members employed with driving as part of their jobs, the CWU supports the toughening of sentences for such offences. A number of CWU members and their families have been seriously injured and killed in road accidents caused by dangerous or careless drivers and we are aware of the devastating effect on families of the deceased. Secondly we are keen to ensure that members who drive do so carefully and safely at all times, following the laws of the road, the highway code, driving according to weather conditions and sticking to speed limits and ensuring that they never drive if unwell or unfit to do so.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

17LTB663 Killer Drivers To Face Life Prison Sentences in Government Plans To Toughen Penalties For Most Serious Driving Offences

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