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heat and sickeness

Postal workers discussion forum. Discuss the day to day life in a Blue Shirt.
Queeg500
Posts: 37
Joined: 22 Sep 2013, 11:24
Gender: Male

heat and sickeness

Post by Queeg500 »

Yesterday the heat got to me, I ended up throwing up, I felt awful and still do today.

Reported it to manager, they ordered me to finish my tracked and come back to clean the van up, upon arriving back at base I was not asked how I was doing, I was immediately asked to explain what the parcels and mail in the york I unloaded where, then sent into the afternoon heat again to clean the van.

How do these people lose their basic decency and basic humanity?

If I'm off im on s2 so told im at risk of being fired (Im rarely ever off), plus I'll lose pay.

Work until you die I guess is the way RM want it.
moonjaguar
Posts: 125
Joined: 06 Apr 2019, 19:11
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by moonjaguar »

Put in a grievance against whoever made you go out again. If you feel worse today tell them it's because you were made to go out when feeling unwell. You should not get a stage warning for feeling unwell in the heat. The person who made you go back should lose their job. They have made someone who feels unwell in the heat go back into that heat. What if you had collapsed? Get your rep involved.

Managers have been told to work with the affected workforce and CWU Safety Reps in periods of
high temperatures and allow staff to make personal judgements throughout the day.
All workers should be advised to cover up, drink plenty of water, take breaks in the shade,
apply sunscreen - and return to the office if at any time they feel unwell due to the heat and
intense sunlight
.
tramssirhc
Posts: 1650
Joined: 04 Sep 2012, 20:19
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by tramssirhc »

moonjaguar wrote:
Today, 09:32
Put in a grievance against whoever made you go out again. If you feel worse today tell them it's because you were made to go out when feeling unwell. You should not get a stage warning for feeling unwell in the heat. The person who made you go back should lose their job. They have made someone who feels unwell in the heat go back into that heat. What if you had collapsed? Get your rep involved.

Managers have been told to work with the affected workforce and CWU Safety Reps in periods of
high temperatures and allow staff to make personal judgements throughout the day.
All workers should be advised to cover up, drink plenty of water, take breaks in the shade,
apply sunscreen - and return to the office if at any time they feel unwell due to the heat and
intense sunlight
.
Whereabouts in the joint statement is this wording?
"The leadership will sabotage the fight and only make the slightest move under fear of powerful working class action" - Des Warren
pinstripe
Posts: 2463
Joined: 25 May 2007, 16:42
Gender: Male
Location: 2 left turns from reality

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by pinstripe »

Queeg500 wrote:
Today, 08:23
Yesterday the heat got to me, I ended up throwing up, I felt awful and still do today.

Reported it to manager, they ordered me to finish my tracked and come back to clean the van up, upon arriving back at base I was not asked how I was doing, I was immediately asked to explain what the parcels and mail in the york I unloaded where, then sent into the afternoon heat again to clean the van.

How do these people lose their basic decency and basic humanity?

If I'm off im on s2 so told im at risk of being fired (Im rarely ever off), plus I'll lose pay.

Work until you die I guess is the way RM want it.
I had a similar incident yesterday, but the complete opposite experience. Driver drove me back, then went back out to do as much as he could in the remaining time, brought back some tracked which were passed onto the DPR drivers. Managers checked if I was ok, which I was once I got out of the sun. Even today they checked up on how I was when I started, before going on delivery and when I got back.
nightcrawler
Posts: 182
Joined: 20 Sep 2018, 17:05
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by nightcrawler »

Sorry to hear what happened, hope you’re doing better now. If I’ve learnt anything after 30+ years in the job, it’s that RM don't give a f***. You’re just a number to them. All they care about is getting tracked and specials done.
Delbhoy
Posts: 69
Joined: 05 May 2013, 23:10
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by Delbhoy »

tramssirhc wrote:
Today, 15:42
moonjaguar wrote:
Today, 09:32
Put in a grievance against whoever made you go out again. If you feel worse today tell them it's because you were made to go out when feeling unwell. You should not get a stage warning for feeling unwell in the heat. The person who made you go back should lose their job. They have made someone who feels unwell in the heat go back into that heat. What if you had collapsed? Get your rep involved.

Managers have been told to work with the affected workforce and CWU Safety Reps in periods of
high temperatures and allow staff to make personal judgements throughout the day.
All workers should be advised to cover up, drink plenty of water, take breaks in the shade,
apply sunscreen - and return to the office if at any time they feel unwell due to the heat and
intense sunlight
.
Whereabouts in the joint statement is this wording?
we had a wtl and management said something similar
postslippete
Posts: 4104
Joined: 14 Jul 2014, 16:27
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by postslippete »

tramssirhc wrote:
Today, 15:42
moonjaguar wrote:
Today, 09:32

Managers have been told to work with the affected workforce and CWU Safety Reps in periods of
high temperatures and allow staff to make personal judgements throughout the day.
All workers should be advised to cover up, drink plenty of water, take breaks in the shade,
apply sunscreen - and return to the office if at any time they feel unwell due to the heat and
intense sunlight
.
Whereabouts in the joint statement is this wording?

Only thing I could find was this

https://www.cwu.org/wp-content/uploads/ ... idance.pdf

In particular this part here:


Personal Judgement – Dynamic Risk Assessment – Important Footnote in the new
Guidance:


 All staff significantly impacted by severe sun and heat during their shift have the right
to make personal judgements including, should it be necessary, suspending their
delivery, collection or duty, to an address, part of their duty, or the whole duty where
conditions deteriorate.
 Anyone feeling unwell should stop work and return to their unit/office/depot etc. A
manager should be contacted to confirm any change to duties and if
assistance/recovery is required.
It needs to be remembered that ‘Personal Judgement’ can be applied by staff at hot weather
temperatures below 35C/95F, in situations where individual outdoor workers feel that the sun
exposure and heat is too intense and as a result they feel fatigued, stressed or unwell or for
any other health condition which is made worse in the heat and sun, then individuals have the
right to make a dynamic risk assessment or personal judgement and choice, if they wish to cut
off the their duty and return to the Office. Staff do not have to wait until the 35C/95F is
reached or a Met Office Warning has been issued.
On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world.
roman
Posts: 265
Joined: 15 Jun 2020, 20:19
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by roman »

At any stage in your working day if you feel unwell, be it because of the heat or otherwise you have the right to go home sick.obviously you have to tell your line manager the circumstances and that you won’t be able to carry on. Then it’s up to them as to how your delivery will be completed.
roman
Posts: 265
Joined: 15 Jun 2020, 20:19
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by roman »

At any stage in your working day if you feel unwell, be it because of the heat or otherwise you have the right to go home sick.obviously you have to tell your line manager the circumstances and that you won’t be able to carry on. Then it’s up to them as to how your delivery will be completed.
tramssirhc
Posts: 1650
Joined: 04 Sep 2012, 20:19
Gender: Male

Re: heat and sickeness

Post by tramssirhc »

postslippete wrote:
Today, 20:17
tramssirhc wrote:
Today, 15:42
moonjaguar wrote:
Today, 09:32

Managers have been told to work with the affected workforce and CWU Safety Reps in periods of
high temperatures and allow staff to make personal judgements throughout the day.
All workers should be advised to cover up, drink plenty of water, take breaks in the shade,
apply sunscreen - and return to the office if at any time they feel unwell due to the heat and
intense sunlight
.
Whereabouts in the joint statement is this wording?

Only thing I could find was this

https://www.cwu.org/wp-content/uploads/ ... idance.pdf

In particular this part here:


Personal Judgement – Dynamic Risk Assessment – Important Footnote in the new
Guidance:


 All staff significantly impacted by severe sun and heat during their shift have the right
to make personal judgements including, should it be necessary, suspending their
delivery, collection or duty, to an address, part of their duty, or the whole duty where
conditions deteriorate.
 Anyone feeling unwell should stop work and return to their unit/office/depot etc. A
manager should be contacted to confirm any change to duties and if
assistance/recovery is required.
It needs to be remembered that ‘Personal Judgement’ can be applied by staff at hot weather
temperatures below 35C/95F, in situations where individual outdoor workers feel that the sun
exposure and heat is too intense and as a result they feel fatigued, stressed or unwell or for
any other health condition which is made worse in the heat and sun, then individuals have the
right to make a dynamic risk assessment or personal judgement and choice, if they wish to cut
off the their duty and return to the Office. Staff do not have to wait until the 35C/95F is
reached or a Met Office Warning has been issued.
The 2026 agreement replaced that.
"The leadership will sabotage the fight and only make the slightest move under fear of powerful working class action" - Des Warren