Dunfermline: Fears that Covid could spread among posties due to van sharing

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.dunfermlinepress.com/news/1 ... n-sharing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

UNION bosses fear that Covid-19 could spread among West Fife posties following a change on Royal Mail policy regarding van sharing.

A limit of two postal workers are now allowed to share a works vehicle on a voluntary basis.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) have warned that sharing postal vans could contribute to the virus spreading after they said that there were 16 confirmed cases at the Bathgate delivery office.

There has been one confirmed case in the Dunfermline delivery office.


A CWU spokesperson said: “From the start of the pandemic, Royal Mail and the CWU agreed that there should be one person per van.

“When Royal Mail waived this agreement earlier this month to allow for two workers sharing a van on a voluntary basis, we opposed their decision.

“Infection rates are rapidly rising in the community and the death toll is growing across the country. At this time, we urge Royal Mail to put their employee’s lives before profit and rethink their choice.”

However, Royal Mail say they re-introduced the sharing of vans after requests from staff.

A spokesperson said: “Throughout this pandemic, every decision we make puts the health of our colleagues and customers first. We have carefully followed government health guidelines throughout.

“We were the first UK company to put in place social-distancing measures in relation to parcel delivery. As part of those measures we moved to a one person per van delivery model.

“We know that this move has put a substantial strain on the operation and on individual colleagues. We have since received many requests from colleagues for a return to shared vans.

“We have been in regular discussion with CWU about the voluntary reintroduction of shared vans and ensuring we have the appropriate risk assessments in place.

“Following careful consideration of all the evolving guidance and the relevant safety and wellbeing aspects, we have taken the decision to allow shared vans to be re-introduced on a voluntary basis with preventative measures in place and having followed rigorous and thorough risk assessments.

[k979aaa]

I have seen some do this in our office not having ago at them even if they ware masks or not your in an enclosed space and can pass this virus on to others mask's or no masks!