Royal Mail Group Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing

To: All Branches with Postal Members

Dear Colleagues,

LTB031/17 informed all CWU Area Health and Safety Reps, CWU Branches and Regional Health and Safety Forums that Judith Grant (Royal Mail Group Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing) had resigned from her role and would be leaving Royal Mail Group at the end of April 2017 after three years with the organisation.

Rachel Boon, who has been with Royal Mail Group for five years, worked alongside Judith and has now been appointed to take over her responsibilities in the interim; a further announcement on Rachel’s role, title and responsibilities will follow in due course.

Meetings have taken place with Rachel and me where we have raised and discussed a number of health and wellbeing issues and cases. In addition we have discussed Royal Mail Group’s health and wellbeing strategy and programme going forward, including the development and roll out of the five year mental health strategy and accompanying programme. This programme and strategy will be launched by the Royal Mail Group Safety, Health, Environment and Wellbeing team, with the support of the CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department, in October 2017; this will take place during European Health and Safety Week, at the National joint Royal Mail Group/CWU Safety, Health and Environment event.

Rachel Boon is keen to work closely with the CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department and the CWU Area Health and Safety Representatives across the Royal Mail Group, continuing the good working relationship established by Judith Grant. Rachel is also keen to progress a number of initiatives, programmes and activities under the health and wellbeing programme banner.

We have discussed the newly introduced Stress Risk Assessment Policy (launched October 2016) and the next steps, including supporting a stronger policy on mental health by raising awareness, seeking parity for mental and physical health and re-emphasising the joint Royal Mail Group/CWU commitment to the ‘Time To Change’ pledge; in signing this both parties committed to work together to raise awareness, end stigma, support those in need and help in a crisis.

The TUC ‘Dying To Work’ charter pledges to support terminally ill workers in order to continue employment if they so wished. This pledge was jointly signed by Royal Mail Group, CWU, Unite and TUC at TUC headquarters last week – together we will be ensuring the ‘Dying To Work’ principles, now reflected in Royal Mail Group’s terminal illness guidance is communicated and upheld.

Rachel has asked me to thank all the CWU local and Area Health and Safety Representatives for their important contribution to the health, safety and wellbeing of the workforce in Royal Mail Group, as part of the safety, health and wellbeing community and has acknowledged the important role our Representatives play; a sentiment Dr Shaun Davis and I echo.

Rachel is keen to continue and develop a strong and collaborative working relationship in these important areas of joint interest and I look forward to our continuing work together in progressing this very important agenda.

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

17LTB507 Royal Mail Group Head of Occupational Health and Wellbeing

 

Dash Cams & Road Safety/Security – Should You Get One

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

The Health, Safety and Environment Department has received a number of enquiries from Reps and Members considering fitting a dash cam to their own vehicles. Employers are currently testing and trialling dash cams also for the same reasons. Many employers report a growing trend of fraudulent crash claims against them and are looking at dash cams to help them. Police Forces have been using dash cams and body cams for some time. Motor Insurers are beginning to encourage clients to fit them with some companies giving policy holders a bonus or discounted price as an incentive. Advice from the Motor Insurer Industry and Motor Trade Press is summarised below for your information.

Daily congestion and traffic can make driving feel more like a battleground than an easy trip from A to B. As a result, drivers are starting to fit in-car video cameras, or dash cams, to their vehicles. There’s good reason to have one. It’s effectively like having a witness with you at all times. And if you’re in an accident, it can provide an impartial view of events to help assign blame and settle a car insurance claim. What’s more, the Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates there are annually 30,000 ‘Crash For Cash’ incidents where fraudsters deliberately cause crashes to claim off the innocent drivers’ insurance. A dash cam can help catch those crooks out.

Additionally there are all the times that you leave your car unattended? Whether you park up to go shopping or leave your car in one of those ridiculously small parking spaces, it’s impossible to have eyes on your vehicle 24/7. You’ll need a dash cam with a Parking Mode if this kind of surveillance is important to you. Be aware that some form of professional installation may be required.

Fitting a Dash Cam:

Most dash cams are very easy to fit: use the rubber suction cup supplied and stick it to your windscreen. You can then power it by plugging it into a suitable power point (USB, cigarette lighter, etc.).

As it’s using the car as a power source, the dash cam should start recording when you turn the ignition on, and stop when you turn it off. If you find the rubber suction cup keeps falling off, use a double-sided sticky pad to hold it on.

Using your Dash Cam:

 

Most dash cams have different sound and video quality options, so it’s a good idea to set the device to record the highest video quality possible. If your footage is needed, it’ll only be a few minutes, and tiny details that can be picked out due to high definition recording might prove invaluable.

Most dash cams record on a loop, recording over old footage when the internal storage or SD card fills up. If you’re in an accident, a dash cam can help settle a car insurance claim.

Some drivers choose not to record sound at all, but it can be very useful to have audio to go alongside video footage in the event of an accident or dispute.

 

If you are recording sound, or taking video inside the vehicle as well as outside, then it’s only polite to let any passengers know up front.

Are dash cams legal?

Yes. In the UK, dash cams are completely legal.

As long as your camera does not block your view of the road, then it is legal to have it installed in your car.

Recording members of the public (and their registration numbers) is legal too. In the UK there is no expectation of privacy while in public.

Dash Cam Reviews and Testing:

Which dash cams are worth buying? Clarity of footage is essential here. Testers looked for clear recordings in day and night-time driving, being able to pick out licence plates from parked cars, pedestrians on pavements and cyclists on the road as early as possible. Ease of use was another priority; a slick interface and simple playback methods scored points. Price from online sources was a final factor.

Direct Line Insurance Top five rated Cameras.

1 Nextbase InCarCam 512G

Critics can’t get enough of the 512G from Nextbase. It has been awarded a Which? Best Buy, and came up trumps in a comparison with others.

1 Cobra CDR 835

Drivers who don’t want to spend more than £100 on a dash cam will struggle to beat the CDR 835 from Cobra, according to The Sunday Times Driving, which calls it a ‘low cost winner’. The picture is awarded five out of five stars, but the lack of a GPS tracking function holds it back from an overall five star score.

1 Transcend DrivePro 220

With a package that includes a 16GB memory card and GPS tracking, plus camera-based nice- to-haves such as lane departure warning and forward collision alert, Transcend’s DrivePro 220 has earned positive reviews.

1 Garmin Dash Cam 55

Tech magazine T3 ranks the Garmin as its top pick. It’s compact, but packed full of features including GPS, lane departure/forward collision warning and speed camera alerts. Importantly, video footage is also crisp and clear in daylight, and holds up pretty well at night too.

1 BlackVue DR650S-2CH

Claiming to be one of the world’s most sophisticated dash cams, the BlackVue features forward and rear facing cameras. A Sony camera sensor is used to deliver clear video footage, day or night, and an intelligent parking mode captures any incident when the car is left unattended.

Auto Express Top Eight Dash Cams

1 Nextbase512GW

2 2. RoadEyesrecSMART

3 3. ThinkwareF800Pro

4 4. GarminDashCam55 5. RoadHawkVision

5 6. TranscendDrivePro230 7. ASUSRecoClassic

6 8. SilentWitnessSW237

We trust this information is helpful to Reps and Members.

Yours sincerely

 

Dave Joyce

National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

17LTB504 Dash Cams & Road SafetySecurity – Should You Get One