bag weight advice

[Jasmine]

I am a female postie on delivery, very much a minority in my office and am struggling a lot with the bag weights. I have worked 2 years now and it has got easier as my strength has built up, but I am quite thin (due to the job!!) and just find I cannot carry the same amount as the men try to. I do weigh all my bags and they are always well under the 16kg limit and I try to keep them under 11kg, although that makes it extremely difficult to make the bag drops work for me and usually ends with me having a lot of bags. I have had lots of problems with my back aching and tiredness. When I have spoken to my manager he just asks if the bags are over 16kg which they aren't. What can I do when the health and safety limit re: bag weight is beyond my physical capability? I am certain I won't be the only one, and am sure there must be men too with similar problems. We have no trolleys at our office, it is an inner city residential area and not the best for crime, so we all have our doubts about successfully bringing trolleys in anyway, despite all the promises of the agreement. Despite my difficulties I do like my job and can work hard. I am just afraid if I continue this way and keep complaining, can they just say I am incapable of doing the job?

Thank you, any thoughts or comments would be welcome.

[el_cartero]

they will need work around you jasmine - u need to have a serious meeting perhaps another box on your walk could be benaficial to your health.

take care

[paulk72]

In our office only the first bag can be 16kg all the rest must be under 11kg!

[feduppostie]

the above post is correct only the pouch must be (up to) 16kg ther rest up to 11 kg

that is unless there are significant gradients on your walk or issues such as alot of stairs in which case the limit reduces again ( to either 8 or 10 kg I can't remember of the top of my head)

have you filled in a WPQ1 ( i think) form for your walk???

it is the one that asks you to list all the hazards on your walk and asks for details of gradients and stairs/steps/dangerous animals etc

once this is done a sheet should then be produced by your manager and displayed on your frame which list any H&S restrictions arising from this - giving details of reduced weight bags etc

If you haven't done this already I suggest you ask your manager for it asap

The you simply add more bags drop or split your bags down to accomodate these guidelines

living in quite a hilly area myself and having lots of steps I have 7 bags for my delivery 4 of which are reduced bag weights which restricts the weight I must carry on these bags

this means splitting bags down and carrying less packets and is also the justification for booking over on heavy days and/or cutting off

the standards are RM's H&S - use them and do the job correctly

hope this helps

[proper postie]

In our office only the first bag can be 16kg all the rest must be under 11kg!

We all know thats bullshit but.I weighed a bag once in front of a lino to prove I was going over my time,it was 27kg!

[feduppostie]

proper postie then you should have refused to carry it and asked for it to be recorded officially!

if you then had split the bag down and walked back for it ( yes I know a pain in the arse but the correct procedure) then he could not have refused you o/t as you were having to walk back

like I said these are Royal Mail's H&S guidelines use them

[luft1957]

16 kg is not a target weight only a maximum weight only carry what is comfortable for you

[wolfie citizen smith]

read and learn what is written from feduppostie as what is explained is true

[el_cartero]

my walks all stairs .... so 8kg is how much mail? a bag full?

[proper postie]

proper postie then you should have refused to carry it and asked for it to be recorded officially!

if you then had split the bag down and walked back for it ( yes I know a pain in the arse but the correct procedure) then he could not have refused you o/t as you were having to walk back

like I said these are Royal Mail's H&S guidelines use them

I did split it,I wasn't carrying that ffs!
It was to prove a point as me booking ot was being questioned.

[feduppostie]

good for you proper postie! and el cat 8 kg is about 3/4 bundles ( depending on your bundle size) and should be the max you carry

have you filled out a WPQ1 form?

[el_cartero]

lets call a normal bundle say 5 cm wide ?

[Jasmine]

Thank you for all the advice. I am unfortunately still in reserves team so different walks every day. Some walks I can do easier than others due to having more bag drops making it easier. One problem I do find is that even though bags are under 11kg by the time I get to my last bag I have that many undelivered parcels etc in addition to that weight. I try to leave them in the bag box to collect but unless I do the walk backwards at the end to collect them back up, I find at some point they do end up in my bag in addition to next bags.
Plus if I have 7 or 8 bags of 11kg, by the last one I will be struggling anyway. Where I live my postie uses one of those trolleys like a golf trolley and I can see it would make a world of difference to me. However I work in a different sort of area to where I live.
Part of the agreement is to get the weight off us but like many issues at our office it is very hard to see how they will be able to implement this.

[shepherdess]

hi the bag weights go on a sliding scale 1st bag no more than 16k 2nd bag no more then 16k 3rd bag no mre than 12k 4th bag no more than 10k 5th bag no more than 10k 6th bag no more than 8k or if you are walking up slopes greater than 1 in 12 no mre than 8k or if slopes are greater than 1 in 8 no more than 5k or your walk is mostly stairs ie flats no more than 5k bags just google cwu weight on delivery hope this helps

[NewPostieUK]

I'm a pretty big bloke and I rarely try to carry 16kg, it's just too heavy.

You need to see your DOM and explain that even though you weight your bags at 11kg, undelivered packets are taking them over this. Be honest and tell him even 11kg is a bit heavy for you. Ask him what you should do with undelivered packets. He might tell you to leave them in bag drops and arrange for them to be picked up.

Any decent manager would sort this problem out, you can't be expected to carry 8 or 9 11kg bags. It might mean extra bag drops, or dead walking back to pick up your next bag. This should be factored in, meaning you take out less, bring some back, or work overtime, should you so wish.

If you don't get joy with the manager, see the union rep and H&S guy. Don't give up, and don't accept the 'it's all going to change soon anyway' excuse.