Severe Weather & CWU OR HSE

[Puppetmaster]

We are expected to work in these conditions for a minimum of 3.5 hours excluding travelling time ,without a refreshment break to have a hot drink ,no toilet facilities.
No proper uptodate risk assesment of your area will be done ,falls slips are are a real and proper threat, as is the risk of sustaing a injury and requiring treatmeant at A+E.

Our DIM takes the veiw as does the area Manager ,as long as the vans can get out the yard their is no reason why we cannot deliver!

The protective clothing you are issued with consists of a good pair of boots ,thin trousers of low quality.Thin low quality tee shirts or Shirts, exceptionaly poor quality
and very thin fleece,and a shower proof coat,and a baseball cap or sun hat! Oh and a pair of fingerless gloves.

We are subject to constant intimidation ,threats etc from Managers about completing,in these extreme conditions .Our dIm cannot understand why many of us
only willing to work delivering for 3.5 hours.


Today I was Lucky I never fell over but slipped and thought I was going over at least 5 times with a bag on my back.
My feet were Frozen from very early on,no warm drink or proper toilet in over 3.5 hours,not legal I think in these conditions.

Where is the National Voice of the CWU ,If people want to work in these conditions thats fine but some of us value our safety and wellbeing.

To my way of thinking If I have real concerns about delivering saftey and excpeting reasonable working conditions say on par with a cold store and proper qulity protective clothing wich I beleive RM is required by law to provide.
I normaly use a trolley,not allowed to use it in snow .so when their is a high chance of falling over I HAVE TO CARRY A BAG!

Forgive me but do I not pay union dues to look at workplace problems as opposed to producing A crap magazine that even fewer people read than the Courier.

Where is the national voice of the CWU
Our local rep is good but he can only do so much,our Area rep is a idiot and Managers proably laugh when he comes,and his own office complies with every thing Management want
despite nationaly the CWU NOT AGREEING WITH CERTAIN PRACTICES.

I feel quite strongly an I know others do about the severe weather at present and our working conditions,So Please Dave Ward,Billy Hayes come and give us advice.
IF A proper risk assesment was done we would not be out delivering for 3.5 hours in these conditions especialy carring a bag on our back!
The dim and CWU state the Company no longer supplies snow chains.

This IS A NATIONAL PROBLEM.liklely to be ongoing for at least 2 weeks or longer .
what are your veiws and what can we due to alert theCWU leaders of our concerns OR THE HSE,I WANT ACTION SOON BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED THIS IS hEALTH AND SAFETY FOR HEAVENS SAKE!!!!

[ldsposti]

Hi ive been on leave this week but i do know there was a brief given out by dave ward ask your rep for a copy , i do know that it does say our safety comes first not the mail, sounds like your dim and area manager are trying it on dont take any sh*t from them.

[pony]

I was out for 4 hours 10 today.
Trudging through snow 6-8 inches deep.
After 2 hours i hit the wall but carried on for another 2.It was really a test of endurance.
Back aching from having to walk bent over like an old man to get up the hills.My legs were buckling after 3 hours(very hilly walk with loads of flats and untreated steps).My calves were cramping up and i had freezing cold wet feet.Dehydrated cos i can't drink much due to no toilets.I honestly thought i was going to fall in a heap.
I had to piss in some passage way and nearly got seen by a paper boy :)
I'm not afraid of hard work but this was torture.Health and safety and satisfactory working conditions...pffft.
But its all ok cos i finished bang on my time.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Last time I checked, it doesnt need to be the union that calls them, if you are genuinelly concerned about your personal safety then why not call the hse yourself? And you can also make it anonymous if you are concerned about being labelled a trouble maker

[Bert66]

It is down to yourselves as well, if you feel that your health and safety will be comprimised by delivering in this weather then you can refuse to go out and that has been quoted by the HSE. I did not go out myself today...please be strong and do not be bullied into doing something you do not feel is safe.

[Lincox]

The reason they wont do a risk assessment is because it,s too dangerous for them to go out and do one. If they did what are they going to come back with. They aren,t going to look at the steps on individual paths that are snowed up and you catch your foot on them and go ass over t-t. Unless they see a bank of snow about 10ft high that is likely to collapse, they havent got a clue what we are having to put up with.They say that the decision is up to us. Pass the buck, alleviate any claims for damage etc. We then have mail piling up which we will be expected to clear in our time when the thaw comes. You can bet your life, overtime will be conveniently mislaid, refused or whatever. This is a time when Management could have won back some of our respect instead of rubbing our noses in the snow and significantly raising the tensions between us. And CWU, what a great time to have laid out some simple advice and ground rules on their website. But No we have a website that the members area is temporary out of action for a couple of days. A couple of days? I have been trying it all week and the message is the same. We are on our own with no bu..er giving a sh.t about our plight.

[Edward Hunter]

To be fair my area today said OT was available on Sunday on deliveries to anyone who wanted it. Not suprisingly considering more snow is expected tonight the take up was pretty low. But overall things have been fair enough, basically take out what you want untill today,no need to go out if you didnt want to. obviously its only right to pay back a bit of the time in these circumstances, when you can get out the door.At the moment i am rotating the 2 halves of my walk doing one half a day.

[Thunderthighs]

Wanna hear a JOKE?! I slipped on black ice, having trouble getting it Erica'd. Manager didn't believe me.
Then, we get a phone call and I'm tasked to pick up a colleague.
Managers comments: "They can't walk in coz the pavements are too slippery..." LOL, HA, BLOODY HA! Wot a JOKE!

[Puppetmaster]

Its tempting to call in Hse myself,but even if i do not give my name ,I am concerned I could be found out ,i certainly beleive in my office RM could narrow it down to a small group straight the way.
But this isSUE IS A NATIOAL 1 FOR A NATIONAL UNION TO LOOKAFTER ITS MEMBERS.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

If you believe as you say its a national issue as you say, dont tell the hse what office your from, that way rm will never find out who you are

[red666bear]

Why are bag weights not reduced in this weather? Our managers solution - take a couple of bundles out of your drop bag and when you have deliver that dead walk back to the drop bag. How very helpful! Respect to all. Stay safe. p.s. how do you keep your chin up when its in the snow? Royal FAIL.

[norbert]

Its tempting to call in Hse myself,but even if i do not give my name ,I am concerned I could be found out ,i certainly beleive in my office RM could narrow it down to a small group straight the way.
But this isSUE IS A NATIOAL 1 FOR A NATIONAL UNION TO LOOKAFTER ITS MEMBERS.

RM or anyone else for that matter cannot use unfair detriment against staff for raising valid H&S concerns , it is a offence punishable in any Industrial Tribunal . There is a few legal safeguards such as the Public Information Disclosure Act 2004 ( The Whistle Blowers Charter ) .

All this could be even further watered down or abolished

I've every sympathy for staff that have to work under a openly vindictive & hostile management that rule through a combination of a culture of fear and management by bullying . Been there bought the T- shirt . :cfo :mfo The Union should be more proactive instead of the mandatory fire fighting .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weath ... ather.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; The Torygraph , not The Guardian , Mirror or Socialist Worker

[krussel]

At the moment i am rotating the 2 halves of my walk doing one half a day.

This is what i am doing and it makes it a lot easier. I am prob doing about 2.40 hrs delivery.

[Lee246]

Tomorrow I'm expected to do a 4.15 hour duty, 12 miles from the office, in the middle of nowhere, with no van and no bus route back. There's no bag box keys either. To get back to the office I have to rely on a nearby driver to take me back to the office. I'm expected to wait for him even if he hasnt completed his own duty. There is also nowhere to hide in bad whether and sleet is expected all day tomorrow and I am dreading it. Surely I can get the union involved?

[robinhood]

in our we are using the severe waether agrrement
we are cutting off, leaving mail in etc you as an individual make a risk assessment if its too dagerous authorise the mail and send it back.
your DOM should have a hard copy of the Severe weather policy