Portering

hampshireman · Post by **hampshireman** » 05 Mar 2016, 15:43

As part of our second revision ; we have re-introduced portering. I am now a porter , from the time I start to the end of IPS.

Not a problem with being assigned that element , but it has f***ed my back to the extent that I have ben off for two days and had to spend on my chiropractor.

The trolleys are not 'fit for purpose' ; in that the trolleys are too low and especially when delivering mail off the lower level ; it is a back problem waiting to happen.

When I go back in I will insist that I do not porter again.

Anyone else had issues with the porter trolley. Or is it just me?

Darren Bent · Post by **Darren Bent** » 05 Mar 2016, 15:50

i don't think it is well designed in height wide. Why can't it be one feet higher. Another issue it use too much energy and make the legs more tired and you will lose bit of pace on the legs.

centenaryman · Post by **centenaryman** » 05 Mar 2016, 15:52

we have porters when we have staff ,,,,,patchy at the mo lots off sick LOL

when I did portering I wouldn't use the lower level because of that prob....only used the top level sooo 4 trays.

I watch other porters boxing 1 walk of at a time.
its gotta be the most mind numbing job there is portering plus your walking a heck of a lot before you go out.
glad I got back to throwing in walks.

Post by **IloveMYredTROLLEY!** » 05 Mar 2016, 16:14

The portering trolley design is a complete disregard for OPG backs, the current bottom tier should not be used and instead, there should be another level at just below chest height (above the current upper level).

This is hardly rocket science, having levels at waist and chest height is a good match for standard manual handling best practice.

Sometimes it is hard to believe RM has been around for centuries!

toomuchcoke · Post by **toomuchcoke** » 05 Mar 2016, 16:40

centenaryman wrote:we have porters when we have staff ,,,,,patchy at the mo lots off sick LOL

when I did portering I wouldn't use the lower level because of that prob....only used the top level sooo 4 trays.

I used to be one of the porters, but I never used the lower level for anything other than storing empty trays which I would then stack on top of a full tray on the top row if I'd filled one up.

centenaryman wrote:I watch other porters boxing 1 walk of at a time.

Strange, I used to pull out 4 rounds out of each fitting as I went. It helps if your office and IPS fittings are arranged so that you can pull out 4 rounds that are vertically organised on the IPS fitting and which are then in that order when you get to the frames. It also helps if you can persuade any other porters who happen to be working to go down the IPS fittings in the same direction! (We had this last part largely sorted at our office, and then the new management team swapped people around and the person who porters most now insists on walking the opposite direction - which makes no sense IMHO because the York of empty trays is at one end of the IPS fittings, so they sometimes end up pushing their empty trolley up to that end, loading it with empty trays, then going back down to the other end to start loading mail into those trays!

)

centenaryman wrote:its gotta be the most mind numbing job there is portering plus your walking a heck of a lot before you go out.
glad I got back to throwing in walks.

I think I prefer portering to "double prepping", as there's basically no social aspect to the latter as there's not really anyone around you. Probably best if your porters have driving jobs to avoid an excessive amount of walking.

hampshireman · Post by **hampshireman** » 05 Mar 2016, 16:51

IloveMYredTROLLEY! wrote:The portering trolley design is a complete disregard for OPG backs, the current bottom tier should not be used and instead, there should be another level at just below chest height (above the current upper level).

This is hardly rocket science, having levels at waist and chest height is a good match for standard manual handling best practice.

Sometimes it is hard to believe RM has been around for centuries!

I do agree .

RM has been around for centuries ,,, and as have their ideas

Chelseablue · Post by **Chelseablue** » 05 Mar 2016, 17:31

Its a complete waste of bodies portering we all know that. Cpl guys in work struggling with shoulder issues ,trolleys arent fit for use . Trying to pull them around corners in work constantly puts a strain on body.

gary1975 · Post by **gary1975** » 05 Mar 2016, 20:18

Lasted a week at ours then they just pushed the backless frames together complete joke

Post by **Judgee** » 05 Mar 2016, 23:30

Our porter only does one round trip and that's your lot. Except Saturdays when he can't be bothered because he doesn't have enough time apparently.

Spoke to the managers about going back to the old ways of throwing everybody on to the IPS til done, as porters and sorters only really work with a full office of staff which never happens. But they won't go back to the old ways as apparently they wouldn't get enough of the walks covered on overtime unless someone throws the walks up, because God forbid the over timers actually have to work the extra hours that they are paid for!

Dozen · Post by **Dozen** » 06 Mar 2016, 09:13

gary1975 wrote:Lasted a week at ours then they just pushed the backless frames together complete joke

crikey that's ridiculous

Whysoslowyehcfc · Post by **Whysoslowyehcfc** » 06 Mar 2016, 14:01

Dozen wrote:
gary1975 wrote:Lasted a week at ours then they just pushed the backless frames together complete joke
crikey that's ridiculous

Lasted a week in our office, porters were allowed to lay there own deliveries in, and needless to say they were the first people out on delivery and the first back

Post by **trythat** » 06 Mar 2016, 18:44

Task 47a - DP SSOW IPS Backless FrameTrolley V1.5 Final [R] .pdf
Here is SSOW that I had when we went through indoor methods - My reading is don't use the bottom level for trayed Mail

Use of the Porter Trolley
 Pre user visual checks on the trolley to ensure that no sharp of jagged edges are exposed
and that all wheels are operational and that the brakes work when applied. If faults found
they should be reported immediately to your line Manager.
 Brake must be applied when on slopes/uneven surfaces.
 Only four trays can placed on the upper shelf.
 Up to eight empty nested trays can be placed on the lower shelf.
 Full trays must not be placed on the lower shelf.
 Only clear one selection at a time, place the mail directly into the tray.
 Do not exceed the safe working load of the trolley [66.6kg].
 Care must be taken when manoeuvring the trolley to avoid striking others.
 Do not perform Portering for more than 2 continuous hours without having a break.

Bouncing Souls · Post by **Bouncing Souls** » 06 Mar 2016, 19:53

We had porters at our office, 4 of them...then we got 'buddy trays' of the flats, most of our mail is sequenced, we no longer need the porters as there is now so little work at the IPS, this is an office of 120ish posties, we at most in the morning, have 3 or 4 people on the IPS for the whole office.
The future is no porters so your sore back should hopefully get some respite

Post by **IloveMYredTROLLEY!** » 06 Mar 2016, 22:07

trythat wrote:Task 47a - DP SSOW IPS Backless FrameTrolley V1.5 Final [R] .pdf
Here is SSOW that I had when we went through indoor methods - My reading is don't use the bottom level for trayed Mail

Use of the Porter Trolley
 Pre user visual checks on the trolley to ensure that no sharp of jagged edges are exposed
and that all wheels are operational and that the brakes work when applied. If faults found
they should be reported immediately to your line Manager.
 Brake must be applied when on slopes/uneven surfaces.
 Only four trays can placed on the upper shelf.
 Up to eight empty nested trays can be placed on the lower shelf.
 Full trays must not be placed on the lower shelf.
 Only clear one selection at a time, place the mail directly into the tray.
 Do not exceed the safe working load of the trolley [66.6kg].
 Care must be taken when manoeuvring the trolley to avoid striking others.
 Do not perform Portering for more than 2 continuous hours without having a break.

Those three highlighted gems were never discussed at our place, we were given very different instructions that contradict these!

toomuchcoke · Post by **toomuchcoke** » 06 Mar 2016, 22:13

IloveMYredTROLLEY! wrote:
trythat wrote:Task 47a - DP SSOW IPS Backless FrameTrolley V1.5 Final [R] .pdf
Here is SSOW that I had when we went through indoor methods - My reading is don't use the bottom level for trayed Mail

Use of the Porter Trolley
 Pre user visual checks on the trolley to ensure that no sharp of jagged edges are exposed
and that all wheels are operational and that the brakes work when applied. If faults found
they should be reported immediately to your line Manager.
 Brake must be applied when on slopes/uneven surfaces.
 Only four trays can placed on the upper shelf.
 Up to eight empty nested trays can be placed on the lower shelf.
 Full trays must not be placed on the lower shelf.
 Only clear one selection at a time, place the mail directly into the tray.
 Do not exceed the safe working load of the trolley [66.6kg].
 Care must be taken when manoeuvring the trolley to avoid striking others.
 Do not perform Portering for more than 2 continuous hours without having a break.
Those three highlighted gems were never discussed at our place, we were given very different instructions that contradict these!

There are agreed standards for portering? Who knew!

At our place it was more a case of "You're a porter from now on, there's a trolley, go porter ...". (But then the management team we had at the time had the approach of "You need to do $THING faster, but we're not going to tell you how to do it faster because that way when/if you do something wrong as a result of trying to go faster we can say we didn't tell you to do that!".) But looking at the first of the entries you highlighted, I'm guessing have loaded trays 3 high on the top of the trolley isn't a good idea?