Postal staff walkout after bosses fail to 'clean desk' of hospitalised employee

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Staff at the Royal Mail in Greenock raised concerns after a worker fell ill last week.

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Angry Scots postal staff have staged a walkout after bosses allegedly refused to clean the workstation of an employee who was hospitalised with Covid-19 symptoms.

Staff at the Royal Mail sorting office in Greenock raised deep concerns after a worker fell ill between Thursday and Saturday last week.

The employee was subsequently hospitalised.

However, despite colleagues expressing their grievances, a source said nothing was done by management and workers were expected to continue to handle hundreds of parcels for delivery.

On Monday morning, staff arrived at the office to discover their colleague had been hospitalised – yet they were expected to continue as normal.

They immediately walked out while representatives from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) met with bosses.

A source told the Greenock Telegraph newspaper: “They actually had people working where the ill employee had been.

“Three separate individuals approached management last week and highlighted that they were not happy with the situation but management chose to ignore concerns.

“Managers have done nothing about it and are refusing to clean any of their stuff.

“We've said they're not going back until it has been sorted and social distancing measures are put in place.

“The managers didn't want to make any decisions.

“They're putting the health and safety of staff at risk.

“We're classed as key workers and we don't mind helping people at this time.

“People are really not happy about what happened.

“It's a very bad situation.”

Another worker added: “The guys in there are working back-to-back and side-by-side.

“We're not sure if the person in hospital has the virus but everyone is understandably very worried indeed.

“All they have asked for is for his frame (workstation) to be deep cleaned and they were told to come in to work anyway and it would be done tomorrow.

“It's just not good enough.

“Everyone is scared and they feel very vulnerable right now.”

After talks with the Royal Mail management on Monday afternoon, Jim McKechnie, branch secretary of the CWU Glasgow, said: “Measures will be taken within the office to make sure there are no underlying health and hygiene issues.

“There will be a deep clean and two metre spacing will be enforced.

“The shift pattern will also change to ensure staff don't bump into each other.”

Discussions between the CWU and Royal mail are to continue.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “There was a disruption to service on Monday morning at Inverclyde delivery office.

“We are working with our people to resolve any areas of concern.

“A deep clean of the office is taking place today.

“Royal Mail takes the health and safety of its colleagues, its customers and the local communities in which we operate very seriously.”

[NWpostie]

All this could have been avoided by proactively deep cleening the workstation.

In the end they did anyway but work relations have nose dived.

A waste of time willy waving in the first place.

[POSTMAN]

What should I do if an employee receives a positive coronavirus test result?

Should an employee receive a positive test result then the manager will immediately notify Central Postal Control (as usual for a notifiable infectious disease) and the Safety, Health and Environment Business Partner who will immediately notify the Health & Wellbeing Team. The Safety, Health and Environment Business Partner will support and guide the manager through required processes in line with Public Health guidelines.

The Local Public Health Protection Teams, are responsible for controlling infectious diseases. They will trace contacts, instruct, advise and provide communications on what action needs to be taken to prevent further spread. RMG will need to follow the instructions provided by the Local Public Health Protection Team in the same way as we would if there was an employee who had been affected by another notifiable infectious disease like TB.

If we have an employee who tests positive but has not been into work for some time (Public Health would advise re timescales) and not been in contact with any colleagues there would not be a risk of infection and so no action would need to be taken and we would not hear from the infection control teams.

A managers’ guidance pack has been produced for units in this position. Your SHE Business Partner will discuss the content of this with you. This is available on the SHE Coronavirus Document Library.


Vehicle Cleaning

Where a confirmed case of Coronavirus infection is identified (i.e. Covid-19 Positive), Public health England will provide advice on the affected employee’s case and the need for cleaning specific areas within their workplace, including equipment and any vehicle use. Report the case to Central Postal Control (CPC) on 0345 266 1060.

Where vehicle cleaning is identified (only undertaken against a Covid-19 Positive diagnosis, following testing), Royal Mail Fleet will arrange for the vehicle(s) in which the affected colleagues have driven or been a passenger to be cleaned.

The vehicle must be left in quarantine for a period of 72 hours from the time the vehicle was last used by an employee diagnosed as Covid-19 Positive (this is the period beyond which the virus would be unable to survive).

After contacting CPC, call the Royal Mail Fleet Customer Service Centre on 0345 266 0005 at the earliest opportunity to advise of a vehicle that requires cleaning.

A specialist sub-contractor will attend the Royal Mail location and undertake a disinfectant clean of the vehicle (undertaken by a two-man team wearing enhanced PPE).

2nd post PDF in the Global Announcement...
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[Woody Guthrie]

That's the problem it has to be a confirmed case (positive test) to trigger a deep clean.
By the time that comes through if it ever does half the office will have it.

Contradictory bullshit again from RM.