Dog bite

[gluteus maximus]

I am lost for words, thanks for the debate, trully shocking

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

I am lost for words, thanks for the debate, trully shocking

just a little bit further information for you, its actually fairly easy to see how poorly H+S is being taken,

The majority (but not all) of delivery offices have now went through their delivery methods revision, so as such most walking posties should be using a lightweight trolley and not carrying a bag, the number of walking posties carrying a bag should be in the minority as these trollies are mandatory except for a few exceptions where not practical

however going through different towns you can clearly see that trolley use is actually in the minority so as such the local delivery office reps are ignoring h+s instructions and not insisting in their use, its pretty clear to see if you know what your actually seeing in the street, same as drivers wearing high vis jackets

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I may be wrong but the H&S rep and IR Rep cannot insist on anything directly with members, then can only advise. The insisting and enforcement of H&S matters is surely for Managers. Obviously everyone has a responsibility under H&S, and reps can enforce statutory conditions on management but not the staff, or have I got it wrong.

[gluteus maximus]

This is totally out of my area as i am not employed by Royal Mail, but will give an educated assumption. It is down to management to have the ultimate responsibility on the welfare of its staff. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. If the employer or Trade union representative have informed the staff on health and safety procedure, and those staff members do not comply, that then will then be a disciplinary measure for the employer to decide on. I will bring managers under the staff umbrella as they are also employees

[Himaggen]

I agree with the above two posts, you cannot blame the CWU Reps, they are there to act as a Membership/Employer go-between not as enforcers.

Even if they were aware of every Member flouting H&S rules, what would you like them to do? inform the Employer and have them watched and conducted!

[clashcityrocker]

Even if they were aware of every Member flouting H&S rules, what would you like them to do? inform the Employer and have them watched and conducted!

Possibly - it would depend on how serious the breaches were.
If for example they were blocking the fire escapes, then seeing them conducted might not be a bad thing.

[fishtank]

what would you like them to do? inform the Employer and have them watched and conducted!

If seeing a few members conducted ensured that H&S guidelines were followed and therefore members were protected from possible long and short term injury wouldn't an H&S Rep feel obliged to look at the bigger picture and protect the membership not individual members?

[Himaggen]

I believe as a Rep, they are there to represent the Membership and should not act against the interests of one of the Members unless the breach had potential to affect the Health or Safety of others as a direct consequence. In the LWT case then I don't believe their actions are hurting anyone else directly, (I'm not sure that I could be persuaded about a 'others may copy and therefore' scenario). As for the Fire Escape example, what's wrong with unblocking the route yourself, speaking to your colleague seperately, and informing a Manager that you noticed a blocked Fire Route earlier, made it safe and ask them to keep their eye open for similar instances.