Parcels Section Report 2009
On last years report I talked about our quality of service and how everyone in the depot was working hard to drive up to the top. Well all that hard work by everyone at the Liverpool depot paid off when Liverpool was named depot of the year 08-09, the depot was awarded £10,000 for its efforts. Looking at the state of the workplace and the conditions our members work in a million might have been more appropriate.
Unfortunately even though the business performed well and we made our biggest profits ever £13 million we have been caught up in the RM group pay freeze, I and my members don’t think this is anyway to treat a workforce who have turned this business around and made good profits for the last few years. With rising bills I’m sure the members will not put up with the idea of a pay freeze because some board member who is paid hundreds of thousands in bonus says so.
On a more positive note even though the economy is on a downturn and the parcel market seeing drops we have managed to safeguard jobs and keep earning levels for all members at the Liverpool site. This result should not be taken lightly looking at the other carriers loosing drivers or cutting hours, the CWU staff have again shown that they can compete with owner driver costs and have again been flexible when needed to safeguard earnings and keep the business moving forward. The depot has again performed well this year and as such we have been paid the maximum £20 per week.
I spoke at conference on a number of issues i.e. use of couriers, van and man, recruitment, review on payments to owner drivers, two man routes, health & safety to which all where carried. I still have nerves when speaking but I believe it’s important for me to inform other parcel workers about Liverpool.
One of our motions to conference in recent years is for the business to be more environmentally friendly something that will be hard for a business built on delivering parcels by van each day, but we are starting to achieve that with the roll out of new greener vans in the depot almost three quarters of deliveries on Merseyside will be done with new greener vans.
The Learning Centre is till being used regularly by the parcel members and some of our admin members are all nearing the end of there IT course run on Thursdays. The learning providers Knowsley College have provided tutors when needed across the three shifts at the site.
Over the last few years the CWU have been able to meet on a regular basis as part of the Blueprint Agreement and this allows the union to play an active part in the running of the Rocket Depot.
In closing my report can I take this opportunity to thank Mark for his help and advice over the year and Mal Woods for the way the depot is run under health and safety and finally to all the members at the depot for their support over the last year.
John Pettit
Parcels Section Secretary
Parcels Health & Safety Annual Report 2009
Once again this year has been very busy on the Health and Safety front; there have been a number of high profile campaigns running nationally throughout the year. Stress at work, Asbestos, Mesothelioma and Pleural Plaques. European Health and Safety week in October, concentrated on risk assessments this year and the C.W.U.s own excellent ``Bite Back`` campaign, which calls for amongst other things the revision of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs act. All of this and many other items on the safety front have kept me fully occupied this year.
I have also been re elected, unopposed, so I intend to carry on in the way I have been acting so far. Setting goals for achieving improvement in Health & Safety in the work place and making sure that were at all possible these goals are reached.
The highlights this year for me on the national scene have been the momentum that has gathered behind the aforementioned C.W.U. Bite Back campaign, this will hopefully lead to a change in the law which will make dog owners responsible and accountable in civil law for the actions of their animals.
The campaign has been excellently organised by the C.W.U.s National Health, Safety and Environment Officer, Dave Joyce. Many large organisations are now aligning themselves with the campaign and their influence is in turn exerting pressure on the government to act. Hopefully it will not be long before we see a change in the law.
Also on a national level the new Health and Safety Executive web site and associated services has been a real boon, I use the website 3 or 4 times a week and the improvement has been immense. Still on a national level swine flu continues to spread and with the onset of winter cases are expected to increase dramatically, N.H.S./ C.W.U. advice to members is already posted in the depot and gives steps to follow
.
If you think you are suffering from the disease, the main points being stay away from work and get medical help.
On local points and improvements, this year I feel I have made big strides in establishing what standards I personally expect as the C.W.U. Health & Safety Rep. with regard to observance and compliance with Health & Safety legislation. We have just recently passed the 35th anniversary of the 1974 Act becoming law. In my opinion the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act was one of the major changes for the better for every man, woman and child in Britain in the last 100 years. It has gone a long way to ensuring that when you come into work, at the end of your shift you will return home safely to your families.
Local improvements made in this last year have been many, although most will probably go unnoticed; the main point is that they have been made.
My main achievement this year I feel is the reintroduction of the Area Health and Safety Committees. This I must stress has been achieved with assistance from Dave Joyce (National Officer) and Paul Devin (area Safety Rep.). Since originally being elected I have highlighted the fact continually that the business was not honouring the national agreement reached with the C.W.U. in 1998 0n health and safety representation. After much stalling and under pressure the business agreed to reinstate the meetings which were part of the agreement they had signed up to originally. This helps to put the safety of our members firmly back in the forefront of matters with the business, locally and nationally.
There have been many more highpoints locally to be brief they are:
1) Top temperature limit to be set on working indoors, Originally I raised this as a motion Through the North West Health & Safety forum. It was debated and voted through at the C.W.U. national conference. This will now be raised by the T.U.C. with the H.S.E.board hopefully resulting in an upper workplace temperature limit.
2) Improved standards in the depot with regard to the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE). PPE.Regs 2002.
3) Manual handling training has now been delivered to most of the staff. Manual handling regs 1992.
4) Major improvements to the car park will shortly be made.
5) The trailer docking area is to be improved.
6) Monthly depot inspections are now always carried out followed by a management / union discussion forum, followed by set deadlines to implement solutions to highlighted risks or problems.
7) Air conditioning has now been supplied for the admin staff.Welfare at work regs 1992.(thermal comfort)
8) Thermometers are now located around the work place to comply with the welfare at work regulations 1992.
9) After a recent colleague C.W.U. survey highlighted health concerns by our members, major changes are to be made to housekeeping in the depot within the next few weeks, Air sample tests are to be carried out, to determine the quality of the air we are breathing in the workplace. Professional floor and wall cleaning apparatus is to be purchased and a deep clean of the depot is likely to be undertaken.
There have been other improvements made and some items are now being pursued at national level.
It is very easy to react to health and safety incidents, because something has already happened to highlight a problem and in turn you need to do something in response, it is a great deal more difficult to be pro active, to try to foresee and put in place systems that will prevent incidents from occurring. In our new Depot Manager Andy Elliott we are very lucky to have someone who is indeed pro active with regard to health and safety matters. He is always ready to take on board any concerns I may raise, he always tries to put forward a positive unbiased point of view with the concerns of the workforce`s health and safety paramount in his importance.
There should be no disagreement on health and safety between a good manager and a good Health & Safety rep. because it is common ground. Good practice is for the good of all, so I am pleased to report, it is very rare that Andy and I disagree these days.
I intend to continue my own personal development in the health and safety field, by further education and attending conferences, lectures, seminars etc.
In October of this year, I was invited by the Royal Mail Group to attend the Allan St. John Holt Memorial Lecture.
The lecture entitled, Motes, Beams and Safety Advice: Health and Safety Practitioners and their personal responsibility. Was given by Lawrence waterman who is one of the country’s most eminent health and safety figures, he is also the man in charge of health and safety on the massive building complex that is the site of the forthcoming Olympic games in London. The lecture was cutting edge, safety analysis, managing risk and a vision for the future of a safer environment for everyone.
Midway through next year I intend to start a degree course that will include health and safety.
I have also now attained a level of education through the Open College Network, which has enabled me to be accepted as an associate member of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management and also as a technician member of the Institution of occupational Safety and Health.
My future aims for Health and Safety at Liverpool depot are to develop my relationship further with Andy Elliott. To push forward and progress safety practices and to ensure that all new developments in the field of Health, Safety and Environment are fully communicated to C.W.U. members.
In closing, I would like to thank the following people,
Mark Walsh, Branch Secretary for his always, excellent advice.
John Pettit, Depot I.R. Rep. for daily updates on problems in the depot and good sound advice.
Paul Devlin C.W.U. Area Safety Rep. who I rely on to progress problems that are unresolved locally, to a national level and also for his superior knowledge in the health and safety field, he has been an excellent ally every time I’ve needed help.
Finally Bobby Freeman Royal Mail Area C.W.U. Health and Safety Rep. who I travel with to attend the North West Health and Safety Forums, Bobby is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to safety and has many years experience in the field and I get many tips, pointers and very good advice free of charge.
Mal Woods C.W.U. Health & Safety Rep. Parcelforce Liverpool South.
