JOBS TO PHYSICAL NOW

[mardenq]

im coming up to 56 now,started when I was 38,im off sick with shin splits and calf muscle strain,also suffer with bad leg and foot cramp,knackered when I get in then cant sleep because of the pain in my legs.6 days a week with no sitting down then rushing round so wont get manager on my case if I try and hand back.tired and stressed out and cant see it getting any better soon

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

In my office, it is the HCT duties that are the real fitness challengers, leaving the depot with 80-104Kg gross weight (albeit some probably break that upper limit) and replenishing with another ~30-70Kg. I suspect the reason why many lock up the HCT to do bits by loops with a pouch is not only to do with trying to get done quicker and reduce manager pressure (through o/t and/or cut offs), but also to try and have some energy left for some sort of life outside work!

They are being sent out on deliveries, doing the equivalent of athletes attaching weights to their limbs or running across sand with a tractor tyre behind them.

[2pints]

I have only been doing the job for a year and a half and i am starting to get sore heels and my tendons/bottom of calfs are always aching.I tend to not use trolleys and i walk fairly quick naturally but i am now considering slowing down a bit and using trolley more.God knows what i will be like in 5 or 10 years

[Cedar_Room]

I have only been doing the job for a year and a half and i am starting to get sore heels and my tendons/bottom of calfs are always aching.I tend to not use trolleys and i walk fairly quick naturally but i am now considering slowing down a bit and using trolley more.God knows what i will be like in 5 or 10 years

Answered your own question there pal.

Get on the Trolly,they really are our best friend (hence why the managers hate them!).

[postslippete]

Management don't care if you are young or old; they expect everyone to be able to do the job regardless.

How on earth they expect a 62 year old to keep pace with a 20 odd year old baffles me; and although managers do their level best to force extra on everyone, i think its great when some of them decide to stuff them and just work to their time using trolleys

I think what is really missing amongst postmen and women though is solidarity. Not everyone is in the union; you get some guys coming in like 2 hours early (why for god's sake??) and others that would even have me jogging just to catch up with 'em!! If everyone in the section stood up for themselves and said ok so they are collapsing this duty, why don't we all just work to our time and don't take it??? And then when you get another easy day, the manager might think twice about lapsing a duty because either he has to pay someone on overtime to do it or he does it himself!!

[Lounge Lizard]

Management don't care if you are young or old; they expect everyone to be able to do the job regardless.

How on earth they expect a 62 year old to keep pace with a 20 odd year old baffles me; and although managers do their level best to force extra on everyone, i think its great when some of them decide to stuff them and just work to their time using trolleys

I think what is really missing amongst postmen and women though is solidarity. Not everyone is in the union; you get some guys coming in like 2 hours early (why for god's sake??) and others that would even have me jogging just to catch up with 'em!! If everyone in the section stood up for themselves and said ok so they are collapsing this duty, why don't we all just work to our time and don't take it??? And then when you get another easy day, the manager might think twice about lapsing a duty because either he has to pay someone on overtime to do it or he does it himself!!

This all results from a commitment to full time jobs, which is something the CWU has actually had some success with.
And the problem certainly is sometimes compounded by what is really missing amongst postmen and women though is solidarity, not together arguing that the job is too much for ALL of us but some claiming someone else's round is easier, which it isn't, as if it can all be solved by swapping a few dozen houses from one walk to another, just what suits a DOM with a divide and rule attitude.

[Grinder64]

Management don't care if you are young or old; they expect everyone to be able to do the job regardless.

How on earth they expect a 62 year old to keep pace with a 20 odd year old baffles me; and although managers do their level best to force extra on everyone, i think its great when some of them decide to stuff them and just work to their time using trolleys

I think what is really missing amongst postmen and women though is solidarity. Not everyone is in the union;

You would think that a Union that was actually connected with the realities and concerns of front line staff would be making headway and attempting to address the elephant in the room here; it's perhaps one of the most blindingly obvious of workplace issues? Maybe I've been asleep but I can't remember the last time that I received any information informing me of how the CWU are going to make my working day compatible with my physical capabilities coupled with advancing years and the budgetary demands of our beloved directorship. But perhaps it's easier just to use our money to make a DVD that genuflects in the direction of a bunch of detached self-serving clowns and tells us why we should be lucky to be bankrolling them...

[villan]

We used to have provision in place, they were called seniority walks.

We still have this to some extent, in the sense that those with the longest service get the pick of the walks at re-sign time.

But what's been happening in our office of late is that new recruits are pretty much all over 40, probably as a result of redundancies in other careers, and the fact that being a postie doesn't appeal so much to modern youth.

So we've got guys in their late 20s and early 30s who are more senior than guys in their 40s and 50s, which means that the older newbies are doing tougher walks than guys 20+ years younger.

[Lazycarton]

We used to have provision in place, they were called seniority walks.

So we've got guys in their late 20s and early 30s who are more senior than guys in their 40s and 50s, which means that the older newbies are doing tougher walks than guys 20+ years younger.

You've hit the Nail right on the head here.

[clashcityrocker]

This isn't rocket science.
You can have smaller duties but then you have to have a predominantly part time workforce.
Be careful what you wish for.

[lollollol]

This link is quite old but relevant to this thread:

http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/10 ... ed-quickly" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note the quote re age discrimination at the end of the article...

[Harrythestick]

The effects on ankles, backs & knees could be helped a great deal, with better footwear. Quality walking boots cost more than the rubbish we are issued with, this would cost more short term, but I believe would massively reduce sickness, giving an overall saving. Doubt if our leaders could work that out.

[The_Wax_Man]

And what do RM think of you if ? Want the plain truth ? .......

Over 50 & struggling with the daily workload ?

RM are not the slightest bit interested.

There is a job to do and if you can't do it, then there is a que of people behind you willing to take the job.

You can't work at the right speed etc. Do you need training ? Do you need to be put on conduct ? Do you have problems at home ?

Upper levels see you as lazy, slow and a hindrance to the business transformation. Remember, you are not a person. You are just a number, a cog in a process

a.k.a - They don't give a flying fig if your body is suffering, and by taking time off through pain and injuries is upsetting all the targets.

Etc, Etc, Etc.

[Lincox]

This isn't rocket science.
You can have smaller duties but then you have to have a predominantly part time workforce.
Be careful what you wish for.

You are right that it would have to be smaller duties and part time work if Royal Mail and CWU continue with this nonsensical delivery methods. This was meant to take stress away from the body but it does not take much thought to know that stress has been heaped upon the body even when using the designated equipment. What is required is a complete rethink on delivery methods and use modern equipment that truly removes stress and strains from the body but at the same time will allow for longer duty spans and maintain full time jobs. The equipment is out there, but I am afraid we have a company whose mindset is not in providing full time employment with the health and well being of the employee in mind, but profits for shareholders which can only be achieved by working the current workforce to it,s knees and replacing it with a low paid replaceable alternative, ably abetted by the people we employ not to let this happen.

[Chelseablue]

Out of curiosity our office is very short staffed too, bin told it's hard to get anyone to be a posty now ! Or stick it. Is you're office short staffed too ppl?