Risk assessing the duties

[mclovin]

Its like an ice rink up here, thats got to be a serious Health and Safety risk. Surely EVERY duty needs risk assessed before we attempt delivery.

There is no way we can walk on sheet ice. And I dont recall having been trained using snow chains. Im thinking of challenging the gaffer on Tuesday, enough is enough.

[noggin1969]

The employe

[Viewfindergeneral]

The employer has a statutory duty under the Health & Safety at Work Act Section 2 to ensure
the workplace is safe and without risk to health, and to maintain it in such condition. Under
Regulation 12(2)(a) of the Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1992 they have
to ensure that “the floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or
be uneven or slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his
health or safety”.
Employers should have included surfaces of paths, roads and car parks in their general risk
assessments, identifying slip and trip hazards, and the measures they have taken to remove
these. Risk assessments must be reviewed following any event that may increase the risk of
slipping, such as rain, wet leaves in autumn or below freezing temperatures and snowfalls in
winter. The duty on the employer extends to cover anywhere on the employers premises
where people walk or pass; that includes any on-site car parks under the employers control
and access roads.
This should also cover anywhere a employee is expected to work , although the employer is not liable for the area they are responsable for the saftey of the employee.

Well that info is very useful in relation to this incident:

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 28&t=23076" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So, it's the employers responsibility and not mine to assess the risk of injury to me in inclement weather. He was not performing his duty correctly and consequently I am apparently paying the price.

[Lounge Lizard]

I've never seen a risk assessment while working for Royal Mail.

[steviemac]

H&S forum in RM chat is always worth a look at.
Every worker can risk assess their duty and take action to avoid injury, if you have no workplace H&S rep then utilise union rep to discuss issues with manager. Seek agreement with manager allowing staff to avoid hazardous delivery points and get manager to accept that only partial delivery can be completed due to conditions and extra care needed to maintain balance.
Insist on manager visiting and reviewing several walks to give an overall picture of the area , this may involve a rep going along to ensure pavements and paths are assessed properly.

[Puppetmaster]

I also think we and the CWU are missing another point about working in sub zero condtitions for long periods.

The Health and safety has this to say from their guide lines

Assessment of the risk to workers’ health from working in either a hot or cold environment needs to consider both personal and environmental factors. Personal factors include body activity, the amount and type of clothing, and duration of exposure. Environmental factors include ambient temperature and radiant heat; and if the work is outside, sunlight, wind velocity and the presence of rain or snow.

.Working at low temperatures

•Provision of suitable thermal/protective clothing
•Access to warm rooms with hot drinks for breaks, the length and frequency of which will depend on the nature of the work, the working temperature and exposure time.

RM is definatley guilty of not providing suitable clothing,the present clothing except the new boots are all substandard.

But surley this is what we pay our union subs for ,guiddance from the CWU in these matters.

After all you cannot do your walk in the normal time if their is ice.

Every road could be clear ,every public footpath could be clear,but then you only need ice on 1 private driveway to have a serious accident ,and you are falling on hard ice.

Also hazards in peoples garden wich may be covered by snow.
One property where i deliver to has a pond in the front garden and you walk across it on a walkway ,last week their whole garden was covered by snow and trying to work out where the pond was ,very difficult,Supposing a reserve had been on their and walked and landed in the pond !