Dog bites

[PostmanBitesDog]

From July 8th on Channel 5 News:

[yellowbelly]

I have recently been bit by a dog that has left teeth marks in my leg. I'm currently going through the process of filling various forms in but not convinced it's being done right. What forms apart from Erica needs to be done by the Dim??

From LTB 498/18: https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 28&t=87364" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Report all dog attacks to management.
Record all dog attacks on ‘DART’ (RM SHE Standard 2.7).
Record all injury dog attacks on ‘ERICA’.
Report all dog attacks to the Police and get a ‘Crime Number’.
Report all dog attacks to the Local Authority Dog Warden or officer responsible for Dog Nuisance and Anti-Social Behaviour issues.
If the member is injured, complete a CWU LS3 Form and submit it to the Union’s Legal Services Department who will instruct the Union’s lawyers.
Make an application under the Royal Mail Dog Attack Compensation Scheme.

[arnold cheshire]

No police involvement just filled in the first stage of an Erica and that's it. Seems a bit slack to me as nothing else been done. I would have thought there should be more things involved as it's sunk it's teeth into me.

You have to inform the police

[PostmanBitesDog]

Dogs are bad, but northerners are worse.

[Murdoch]

Personally, I think more posties need to take legal action against Royal Mail when they get bitten.

There's a severe failure in the duty of care with regards to how to deal with a dog attack. They aren't all "avoidable".

I feel woefully unprepared in the event of a serious dog attack.

[mailroyaly]

Personally, I think more posties need to take legal action against Royal Mail when they get bitten.

There's a severe failure in the duty of care with regards to how to deal with a dog attack. They aren't all "avoidable".

I feel woefully unprepared in the event of a serious dog attack.

Totally agree. The figures of how many posties get bit is outrageous & RM need to take firmer action against customers like suspending deliveries for minimum 6 mnths!
Then dog owners might take it a bit more seriously!

[Brandy]

Personally, I think more posties need to take legal action against Royal Mail when they get bitten.

There's a severe failure in the duty of care with regards to how to deal with a dog attack. They aren't all "avoidable".

I feel woefully unprepared in the event of a serious dog attack.

Totally agree. The figures of how many posties get bit is outrageous & RM need to take firmer action against customers like suspending deliveries for minimum 6 mnths!
Then dog owners might take it a bit more seriously!

When I got bitten,the mail got suspended for one day!!!

[peshwaarinaan]

I have recently been bit by a dog that has left teeth marks in my leg. I'm currently going through the process of filling various forms in but not convinced it's being done right. What forms apart from Erica needs to be done by the Dim??

You need to make a statement to the Police.They will take action and speak to the owner.

That's what I did when I was bitten at Easter. It took the Police 2 weeks to ring be back but they did go round to the address. I didn't want to prosecute.

[CPTNemoUK]

I got bitten last year and trying to get my office to get it put into the erica was like curing cancer. I gave up in the end. Not because I wanted too, only because my wife had a miscarriage. I did report it too the police though. What makes my p*** boil the dog owner has never apologised and they still don't control the dog properly. Next time that dog runs at me it's getting my size 11 up its arse.

[Murdoch]

I got bitten last year and trying to get my office to get it put into the erica was like curing cancer. I gave up in the end. Not because I wanted too, only because my wife had a miscarriage. I did report it too the police though. What makes my p*** boil the dog owner has never apologised and they still don't control the dog properly. Next time that dog runs at me it's getting my size 11 up its arse.

Truth be told. The advice and support from RM is completely lacking on what to do in the instance that a large and dangerous dog actually viciously attacks you, or indeed what you are "allowed" to do.

And as we all know, no matter how much blue dots you put on frames, there will always be instances outside our control that means we come into contact with potentially dangerous dogs. Every single postie whether they've been bitten or not, has had one of those moments, when your heartrate has trebled because a dog has tried to attack you, and you've had to either escape, or stand your ground and be prepared to fight.

Royal Mail seem intent on putting the liability on us, but believe it or not, no postie ever wants to be in the situation of getting into a fight with a dog. It's not a pleasant situation, you might have to run, you might have to scream and shout, you might have to be prepared to kick the s**t out of it.

But I fear, if you do the latter. Suddenly any support you thought you had from RM would disappear in a whiff of potential liability, and you'd likely be thrown under the bus.

[CPTNemoUK]

I got bitten last year and trying to get my office to get it put into the erica was like curing cancer. I gave up in the end. Not because I wanted too, only because my wife had a miscarriage. I did report it too the police though. What makes my p*** boil the dog owner has never apologised and they still don't control the dog properly. Next time that dog runs at me it's getting my size 11 up its arse.

Truth be told. The advice and support from RM is completely lacking on what to do in the instance that a large and dangerous dog actually viciously attacks you, or indeed what you are "allowed" to do.

And as we all know, no matter how much blue dots you put on frames, there will always be instances outside our control that means we come into contact with potentially dangerous dogs. Every single postie whether they've been bitten or not, has had one of those moments, when your heartrate has trebled because a dog has tried to attack you, and you've had to either escape, or stand your ground and be prepared to fight.

Royal Mail seem intent on putting the liability on us, but believe it or not, no postie ever wants to be in the situation of getting into a fight with a dog. It's not a pleasant situation, you might have to run, you might have to scream and shout, you might have to be prepared to kick the s**t out of it.

But I fear, if you do the latter. Suddenly any support you thought you had from RM would disappear in a whiff of potential liability, and you'd likely be thrown under the bus.

That what they was saying to my when I wanted it put in the erica report. "It takes about 4 hrs to do in total. We will have to do a full investigation. If you are found at fault you will be conducted." All in the hope I would drop it. They just couldn't be arsed doing any extra work. I won't even be surprised they didn't even send them a letter.

[Murdoch]

That what they was saying to my when I wanted it put in the erica report. "It takes about 4 hrs to do in total. We will have to do a full investigation. If you are found at fault you will be conducted." All in the hope I would drop it. They just couldn't be arsed doing any extra work. I won't even be surprised they didn't even send them a letter.

That really annoys me. That's what I mean about people taking more significant action personally. It's clear that Royal Mail just want to AVOID liability.

I urge every single person that gets bit by a dog, to pursue every avenue to get it taken seriously. It should never just be accepted as "part of the job".

There are very few instances, where the postie will be "at fault". In fact, I could make a compelling argument in 100% of cases that it could easily be shown that the posite was not fully at fault.

For example, the most obvious "at fault" situation is when someone hasn't used a dog peg, and a dog has bitten them through the letterbox. Ok fine, has the dangerous dog risk been documented, has the person covering the round received the proper training in where to find and use this information, has the customer been notified of the risk and been advised to install a protective cage, have they responded, and if not then why has this not been escalated. Has the postie received the relevant training in how to use the dog peg, do they know they exist? have they been issued with one personally, have they signed off on this?

I was in the job for about 3 years, before anybody even mentioned what a dog peg was. Nobody had any clue where they were kept.