Drivers seat belt into passenger lock

[postmandick]

When you sign for your driver licence check you will also be signing that you accept the terms and conditions of employment within Royal Mail

read what you sign as it states that you
1 wear seat belts at all times driving or passenger (no exemptions)
2 do not use any electronic devices whilst driving/moving IE: PDA or mobile phones
3 Do not smoke in Royal Mail vans

failure to follow these conditions is Gross misconduct

I believe your local manager will have there bottom kicked if a safety audit is carried out

As I've said before .... do your job the way Royal Mail expects and if your late back, Book it or return following correct cut off procedure

cutting corners only cuts your own throats ....

Tell your manager the first pillar is safety first

[fishtank]

Of all the dumb things you could throw away a good job for this has to be the dumbest.
It's hard enough to defend members without having to sit next to an idiot and try to justify their actions.

[stevenshm]

A

[fishtank]

can't really see how they can conduct you for it?

Reasonable belief.
Given that it isn't a court of law, they don't need proof and they only need to show that the decision to conduct was "reasonable" which is the most reasonable explanation, that you were driving without your seatbelt or you were doing a "pre-tension test" and forgot to undo it afterwards?

They're not mugs ffs.

[Shaders]

Having had a serious head on crash with a drink driver some years ago I find it unbelievable that anyone would do this.
I'm 99.9% sure the belt saved my life that day,
Even if doing lots of packets in the same street the belt goes on every time.

[jetblack]

When you sign for your driver licence check you will also be signing that you accept the terms and conditions of employment within Royal Mail

read what you sign as it states that you
1 wear seat belts at all times driving or passenger (no exemptions)

To be fair the OP stated that a seatbelt was being worn.

Re. not having a 50 metre exemption, as prescibed by law, due to RM reg.s.
This basically means that you could be sacked where the law has not only not been broken, but has in recent years been clarified to avoid confusion. Is this RM taking a genuine interest in the welfare of its staff ? Or is it RM laying down unnescesarily punitive regulations, that are above and beyond the recommendations and requirements laid out in statute for delivery staff, so as to a) abdicate responsibilty and liabilty in the event of an accident/personal injury and b) gain the upper hand (potentially) in employee/industrial relations.
Same old same old.

Re. posts reiterating how daft it is not to wear a seatbelt, I completely agree.

[Tman]

The "Law" and a company's rule book aren't necessarily the same thing, but it doesn't mean either can be ignored, even by the conspiracy theorists, as above.

[DB1100]

So a floater could get the keys to a van that they are going to use,unlock the van clip the seatbelt into the passenger clip,run into the DOM report it and the previous driver would be in deep sh1te,hmm thats not open to abuse is it.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.gov.uk/seat-belts-law/overview" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You must wear a seat belt if one is fitted in the seat you’re using - there are only a few

The Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations 1993 require that every person
(other than a person under the age of 14 years) shall wear an adult belt when:
(a) driving a motor vehicle

If you are not wearing it properly when you are driving then you are not wearing it. Ergo it is a criminal offence.

[WOBBLY]

Am I right in thinking that they are actually wearing a seatbelt ? But it is plugged in 3 inches to the right into the passenger side receiver ? I assume also that the passenger side belt is plugged into the drivers side (?)


Sorry, I don't know the law on this (and I have briefly tried to google it) - nor do I know actual stats for the number of accidents caused or fatalities incurred by a postman wearing a seat belt plugged in this way.

Could be issues if the vehicle airbag sensors activate a seatbelt lock on impact perhaps - I don't know if they do on our vans or not. Then again, if they were both plugged in at the time it wouldn't really matter.
Could be more possibility of lateral movement in the event of an accident (with a seat belt worn in this manner) I suppose. I wouldn't know where to look to see wether this is a real or imagined problem though.

Seems a little bit OTT if people are being sacked for this though TBH - given that there is a 50m exemption to wearing them at all on delivery (5m is enough to get killed).

sorry not such thing as a 50m exemption, whilst this might be true for couriers delivery etc, RM rules state at all times seat belts need to be worn

We had a (Royal Mail approved) driving instructor in last year to give us all a driver refresher course (similar to a driver improvement course) and he mentioned the 50m exemption to us.

[LouBarlow]

Yeah I'd trust RM documentation and your manager over someone who probably doesn't know RM's terms and conditions.

It has been mentioned before many times, although the law states an allowed distance, RM have it in black and white that you must wear a belt at all times. It is their rule so you either abide or risk misconduct.

We had someone fired from our office for doing what the OP mentions, so it does happen.

[robbertwhitton]

Can we get the cwu to insist we get all the rounds tested to their specifications to the letter ,seat belts ,security of mail,stop start lock the van ,unlock the van deliver from the rear,drivers checks,meal breaks blah blah blah! And see how realistic our start and Finnish times really are????

[LouBarlow]

Can we get the cwu to insist we get all the rounds tested to their specifications to the letter ,seat belts ,security of mail,stop start lock the van ,unlock the van deliver from the rear,drivers checks,meal breaks blah blah blah! And see how realistic our start and Finnish times really are????

You forgot scanning every parcel, delivery to neighbour and all the other crackpot ideas that they think don't add time to your delivery and have agreed to on your behalf.

The CWU are beyond useless.

[jetblack]

.... even by the conspiracy theorists, as above.

I wondered how long it would take for you to turn up.
@mods - might be an idea to implement an ignore feature on this forum, it gets a bit much having to endure trolls TBH. Just a suggestion.

We had a (Royal Mail approved) driving instructor in last year to give us all a driver refresher course (similar to a driver improvement course) and he mentioned the 50m exemption to us.

Yep, the local bobby was explaining it to me not too long ago as well. The law was framed in such a way (for delivery drivers) because it recognised the impracticality of not having such an exemption.

Can we get the cwu to insist we get all the rounds tested to their specifications to the letter ,seat belts ,security of mail,stop start lock the van ,unlock the van deliver from the rear,drivers checks,meal breaks blah blah blah! And see how realistic our start and Finnish times really are????

You forgot scanning every parcel, delivery to neighbour and all the other crackpot ideas that they think don't add time to your delivery and have agreed to on your behalf.

RM don't mind implementing unrealistic and impractical reg.s It suits them fine. But what about us, the poor idiots that are being asked to abide by them ?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

.... even by the conspiracy theorists, as above.

I wondered how long it would take for you to turn up.
@mods - might be an idea to implement an ignore feature on this forum, it gets a bit much having to endure trolls TBH. Just a suggestion.

Way ahead of you - probably 8 years http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... &mode=foes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; That should open your Foe list, just add as necessary