Parcels Health & Safety Report 2007
It is almost two years now that I’ve been
the C.W.U. H & S rep at Parcelforce Liverpool depot and in
that time I’ve learnt a lot with regard to the daily running
of the depot, how the health and safety laws are adhered to by
the business and ourselves as employees of the business, more
of that later. In the last two years there have been many major
developments in legislation that will help enforce health and
safety laws, the main one being the introduction of the corporate
manslaughter and corporate homicide act which will come into force
on April 6th 2008.
Although the act has been watered down to some
extent from the original proposals it should still prove to be
a powerful deterrent to companies who flout the H & S laws.
At the moment the governments sentence advisory board are determining
at what level the penalties should be set at for breaches that
result in death. In 2006 Royal Mail were fined £150.000
after an employee died in a falling from height accident, they
were found to have breached the H & S at work act. No directors
were charged.
The new law hopefully will be a wake up call
to all directors and managers of companies that if there is transgression
of the law they will be held accountable in a court of law with
heavy fines and prison sentences. In my opinion the key to good
H & S practice in the workplace is the willingness of the
employer to implement and enforce where necessary the H &
S laws together with a good working relationship between the employer
or his representative and the H & S rep ,sadly I’ve
found this not to be the case at times at Liverpool depot, even
the simplest of requests such as asking for managers to monitor
and enforce the wearing of P.P.E.(personal protective equipment)
has been met with resistance as a walk round the depot any morning
will show.
Agency workers and owner drivers being the worst
offenders, any personnel on site not wearing their high visibility
vests or safety footwear should be shown immediately to the exit;
the building trade is a good example of how an industry has had
a complete turnaround of its working policies. In the 60s,70s
and 80s it was common to see building workers for many of the
large national companies wearing trainers, no high viz and no
hard hat these days things have completely changed and as well
as all the former items now being worn H & S is rigidly enforced
as it should be.
The safety of its workforce must be of paramount
importance to any employer as the safety of yourself and your
fellow workmates must be to you as an employee, many items that
are raised at the monthly H & S forum reoccur too frequently
for my liking and it is my hope that in the coming year this can
be kept to a minimum by involving the area safety rep Paul Devlin
who will raise unresolved matters at a higher level. There are
many H & S problems at Liverpool depot,the roof, the floor,
lighting, heating, cooling, cleanliness, first aid training ,manual
handling courses ,safe systems of work, P.P.E., these are just
a few amongst many, but I do have them in my sights and I intend
to keep on banging the drum until things are changed round for
the better of everyone employed at the depot including employees,
management and owner drivers.
In summing up I would like to mention the excellent
training facilities the C.W.U. has given me I have attended three
week long courses at Alvescot lodge in Oxfordshire for stages
1, 2 and 3 H & S. I also attend the quarterly North West health
and safety forum which is held in Blackpool where I get the opportunity
to exchange views and information with Royal Mail, Parcelforce
and B.T. H. & S. reps along with the C.W.U. Health and Safety
National Officer Dave Joyce, this education and experience is
invaluable and I must thank the business for the release granted,
also Mark Walsh who as branch sec I e-mail, ring, write to and
generally complain to on a near daily basis many thanks for the
sound advice and support given. Also to Paul Devlin for his stanch
support and always being prepared to listen to me bang on about
something or other H & S wise, and then giving me the correct
answer to the problem and last but not least John Petit who as
the depot I.R. rep has put up with me treading on his toes (most
times to be honest unintentionally) and has always kept me informed
of issues in the depot and always backs me up.
Mal Woods
H & S Rep Parcels Section
