Ex-postie MP bids to stamp out low letterboxes

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp92pm5ypmgo



A Labour MP who used to be a postal worker is co-sponsoring a parliamentary bill to outlaw low-level letterboxes on front doors and elsewhere.

Lee Barron, who represents Corby and East Northamptonshire, said putting the slots close to the ground increases physical strain suffered by postal workers.

It also puts them at greater risk of dog bites.

The issue has been the subject of a campaign for more than 60 years.

Although many letterboxes are at waist height, a good number are still at the bottom of the door.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) started a campaign to raise the levels of letterboxes way back in 1958.

The British Standards Agency agreed that they should not be installed close to the ground, but this was never enshrined into building standards law.

Barron, who was elected to the Northamptonshire seat last year, said: "As a former postal worker and as someone who represented Corby and East Northamptonshire postal workers for over a decade, I'm co-sponsoring a 10-minute rule bill that will go before Parliament with an aim for a UK-wide ban on the installation of ground-level letterboxes in all new builds and front door replacements."

He wants to make the installation height dimensions in the relevant British standard mandatory.

The standard states that letterboxes must be installed between 70cm (2ft 4in) and 170cm (5ft 7in) from the delivery floor level, except in special cases such as historic buildings.

Mr Barron said: "The reasons why this is so important is due to the cumulative physical strain induced by constant bending right down to floor level while out on delivery and also the increased risk of dog bites through the letterbox when it is at ground level."

The CWU said a delegation from the union had met the current minister of state for housing and planning in March to discuss the issue.

A union spokesperson said: "It was a positive meeting and this conversation is currently ongoing."

The 10-minute rule procedure allows MPs to put the case for a bill to become law in a speech lasting no more than 10 minutes.


Lee Barron MP used to be a postal worker

[BenacreNick]

From memory, this was going through Parliament just as the Coronavirus pandemic appeared ?

Perhaps someone can clarify for the other readers.

[Smoothbackground]

From memory, this was going through Parliament just as the Coronavirus pandemic appeared ?

Perhaps someone can clarify for the other readers.

From a quick search of Hansard, it looks like that last process may have resulted in some amendments to the guidelines accompanying the Building Regulations. However, guidelines are just that; they aren’t tramlines, nor rules or laws that must be slavishly followed.

As things stand, Approved Document Q merely provides “guidance for letter plates to be positioned in a range of 700mm up to 1700mm from the finished floor level”.

[daftlad]

There are more low level letterboxes than ever.
Most new fancy doors seem to have them.

[Mr Rush]

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) started a campaign to raise the levels of letterboxes way back in 1958.

Talked about burying the lede! If the CWU (founded 1995) has a time machine then serious questions need to be asked.

[twoloops]

Those on my walk with low letterboxes that get lots of mail, I knock, then get on my hands & knees, sometimes almost laying down, before they answer the door, when they answer, complain about the letterbox, my knees, my back, my age & ask for a hand up off the floor, I did offer to buy a customer a wall mounted box, she soon had a box fitted.

[WalkerX]

[FilthyBloke]

You don’t have to deliver to low letter boxes. If, like the OP says, you feel it will cause you back or knee issues then you don’t have to.

[postslippete]

You don’t have to deliver to low letter boxes. If, like the OP says, you feel it will cause you back or knee issues then you don’t have to.

I remember a postie requesting a risk assessment for a load of houses that were built with low lying letterboxes. The manager took him off the round and put someone else on it who would deliver to them instead.

[Mr Rush]

Walked up to a door to find the customer has installed a new one... with a low letterbox. Fantastic. What's the lifetime of a fresh PVC door? 20 years? So if they ban them tomorrow they'll still be present in 2045 - closing in on a century since the campaign started.

Which do you forsee will be extinct first by that date?:

• Low letterboxes
• Letters

[qwerty2]

Walked up to a door to find the customer has installed a new one... with a low letterbox. Fantastic. What's the lifetime of a fresh PVC door? 20 years? So if they ban them tomorrow they'll still be present in 2045 - closing in on a century since the campaign started.

Which do you forsee will be extinct first by that date?:

• Low letterboxes
• Letters

Still got to put pkts/small parcels through