What is the procedure for items that have leaked/Leaking etc

[Ren Hoëk]

One of our guys had an issue with a packet that had leaked what ever contents were held inside it all over itself. He straight up refused to handle it saying there is no way to know what it was. He was essentially forced into handling it. I overhead the DOM say he had done a risk assessment on it (smelt it) and deemed it safe. Another seemingly incredible skill RM DOMS possess. There have also been other occasions of other items that have leaked unknown substances. I suspect this must be fairly common.

It got me thinking about where we stand with refusing to handle such items?
What is the correct procedure?

Considering more and more "things" are being sent from the dark web and the dangers of other malicious substances making it through the system (Slim I know) it seems if our DOM's reaction and actions were anything to go by its only a matter of time until someone has a bad reaction.

Anyone else had any similar experiences? How was it handled? How should it be handled?

[joewyan]

Well it should go into a damage bag and hopefully it shouldn’t leak out of that.

[Ren Hoëk]

Well it should go into a damage bag and hopefully it shouldn’t leak out of that.

God, how I hope that is sarcasm.

[portadown]

As for as i no its to be put in a damage bag and left in the callers office r some were safe and a card send out to the recipient to call in and collected

[Ren Hoëk]

As for as i no its to be put in a damage bag and left in the callers office r some were safe and a card send out to the recipient to call in and collected

I refuse to believe that is the correct procedure. Who is handling it to put it in a damage bag? What if it is too large for a damage bag? What if what ever has leaked becomes noxious? What if what ever is leaking is an irritant (Or worse)?

[ripio]

As for as i no its to be put in a damage bag and left in the callers office r some were safe and a card send out to the recipient to call in and collected

I refuse to believe that is the correct procedure. Who is handling it to put it in a damage bag? What if it is too large for a damage bag? What if what ever has leaked becomes noxious? What if what ever is leaking is an irritant (Or worse)?

Well someone has to do something with it. Or do you expect the building to be evacuated and some decontamination squad to be called in for every leaky package?

[yellowbelly]

As for as i no its to be put in a damage bag and left in the callers office r some were safe and a card send out to the recipient to call in and collected

I refuse to believe that is the correct procedure. Who is handling it to put it in a damage bag? What if it is too large for a damage bag? What if what ever has leaked becomes noxious? What if what ever is leaking is an irritant (Or worse)?

Your office should have an incident plan somewhere, have a look at the RM site below:

http://staycalm.online/on-site/incident/suspect-items/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ren Hoëk]

As for as i no its to be put in a damage bag and left in the callers office r some were safe and a card send out to the recipient to call in and collected

I refuse to believe that is the correct procedure. Who is handling it to put it in a damage bag? What if it is too large for a damage bag? What if what ever has leaked becomes noxious? What if what ever is leaking is an irritant (Or worse)?

Well someone has to do something with it. Or do you expect the building to be evacuated and some decontamination squad to be called in for every leaky package?

You are right. Someone has to do something with it. But that someone should do it in a safe way. Who should that someone be. How should that someone do it and with what?

The prevailing culture seems to be that this isn't a big deal. But it really should be! As stated before. If someone came into contact with something suspicious or noxious it could have serious effects. Even if its fairly innocent someone could have an adverse allergic reaction.

[Ren Hoëk]

As for as i no its to be put in a damage bag and left in the callers office r some were safe and a card send out to the recipient to call in and collected

I refuse to believe that is the correct procedure. Who is handling it to put it in a damage bag? What if it is too large for a damage bag? What if what ever has leaked becomes noxious? What if what ever is leaking is an irritant (Or worse)?

Your office should have an incident plan somewhere, have a look at the RM site below:

http://staycalm.online/on-site/incident/suspect-items/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Iv just run through a variety of scenarios using that tool. It seem more reactive that pro active. Also, No mention of liquids.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

One of our guys had an issue with a packet that had leaked what ever contents were held inside it all over itself. He straight up refused to handle it saying there is no way to know what it was. He was essentially forced into handling it. I overhead the DOM say he had done a risk assessment on it (smelt it) and deemed it safe. Another seemingly incredible skill RM DOMS possess. There have also been other occasions of other items that have leaked unknown substances. I suspect this must be fairly common.

It got me thinking about where we stand with refusing to handle such items?
What is the correct procedure?

Considering more and more "things" are being sent from the dark web and the dangers of other malicious substances making it through the system (Slim I know) it seems if our DOM's reaction and actions were anything to go by its only a matter of time until someone has a bad reaction.

Anyone else had any similar experiences? How was it handled? How should it be handled?

This may seem a strange answer, but you and the manager are both right.

The manager does have a H&S responsibility and is allowed to use his judgement, experience and knowledge to assess the situation. So if he has made a reasonable assessment of the situation he can make the decision that it poses no threat.

However, an OPG has the same rights and responsibilities and they can disagree with the manager if they reasonably believe the item may pose a threat. The manager should then deal with that situation as they see fit, but the manager cannot force anyone to do something they reasonably think is dangerous. They will have to manage the situation.

The few times we have had this on packet sorting we alerted the manager and isolated the packet. The manager and H&S rep investigate the packet, perhaps by opening it (they are allowed to in this situation) to see if they can identify the substance. If they deem it safe they will seal the item in damage bag, perhaps write a letter to the receiver explaining what has happened, and ensure delivery.

If they deem it unsafe and a threat to the safety of personnel they will evacuate the building and contact the emergency services.

[Ren Hoëk]

One of our guys had an issue with a packet that had leaked what ever contents were held inside it all over itself. He straight up refused to handle it saying there is no way to know what it was. He was essentially forced into handling it. I overhead the DOM say he had done a risk assessment on it (smelt it) and deemed it safe. Another seemingly incredible skill RM DOMS possess. There have also been other occasions of other items that have leaked unknown substances. I suspect this must be fairly common.

It got me thinking about where we stand with refusing to handle such items?
What is the correct procedure?

Considering more and more "things" are being sent from the dark web and the dangers of other malicious substances making it through the system (Slim I know) it seems if our DOM's reaction and actions were anything to go by its only a matter of time until someone has a bad reaction.

Anyone else had any similar experiences? How was it handled? How should it be handled?

This may seem a strange answer, but you and the manager are both right.

The manager does have a H&S responsibility and is allowed to use his judgement, experience and knowledge to assess the situation. So if he has made a reasonable assessment of the situation he can make the decision that it poses no threat.

However, an OPG has the same rights and responsibilities and they can disagree with the manager if they reasonably believe the item may pose a threat. The manager should then deal with that situation as they see fit, but the manager cannot force anyone to do something they reasonably think is dangerous. They will have to manage the situation.

The few times we have had this on packet sorting we alerted the manager and isolated the packet. The manager and H&S rep investigate the packet, perhaps by opening it (they are allowed to in this situation) to see if they can identify the substance. If they deem it safe they will seal the item in damage bag, perhaps write a letter to the receiver explaining what has happened, and ensure delivery.

If they deem it unsafe and a threat to the safety of personnel they will evacuate the building and contact the emergency services.

Cheers. Il ask our safety guy what the office plan is. I don't think he was in when this happened but it did seem as if the DOM was very much "Don't care, it's nothing, just take it" but with very little done to check what it was.

[hatter68]

Put in damaged item bag write 739 card and put through their letter box to come and pick up had this with packet that broke and glass sticking out recently