Breach of SSoW Staff Moving Two York Containers At A Time

[TrueBlueTerrier]

04 December 2013


York Container Safe System Of Work (SSoW) Breach of SSoW Staff Moving Two York Containers At A Time



No. LTB/798/13

Ref: C25/13

Date: 4 December 2013

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues


York Container Safe System Of Work (SSoW) - Breach of SSoW - Staff Moving Two York Containers At A Time:

As you will know, the York Container Capacity Review took place early last year. This was undertaken jointly between RM/HQ and CWU/HQ and looked at maximising the number of Trays moved and transported in York Containers. The aim and the agreed outcome was to ensure that a maximum of 28 Royal Mail Letter Trays was loaded and moved safely in all Yorks for despatch at Outward from Mail Centres, transported and processed within the Logistics network and received at Inward by Mail Centres providing the gross weight does not exceed 250 kilograms and a maximum of 24 loaded Royal Mail Letter Trays can be loaded for all Yorks despatched by Mail Centres / Mails Processing Units for distribution/transfer to Delivery Offices providing the gross weight does not exceed 250 kilograms.​

As part of that project it was agreed to thoroughly review the York Container SSoW and a Joint Working Party was set up which included CWU/HQ Health, Safety & Environment Dept, Royal Mail HQ Central Safety Team, Royal Mail National Container Manager, Royal Mail Ergonomists, Royal Mail Processing and Logistics.

A root and branch review was concluded and subsequently reviewed again six months later. The product was a revised York Container SSoW (V2.6) and associated Opps Bulletin (Copies attached).

It was made clear from day one that Royal Mail had no intention of moving away from the Safety Standard of Staff moving one York Container at a time.

In relation to the movement of York Containers, the unanimous and strongly held view was that for Risk Control, Safety and Ergonomic reasons the movement of only one York at a time would continue as the central standard. The SSoW therefore states that Staff will only push one York container at a time using the designated yellow handles. This method is a core component of the generic York Container SSoW and as such not subject to local variation.

Turning now to the NDC Local SSoW which has been misrepresented on several occasions by various managers over the years, in a number of locations, as attempts have been made by those managers, on a number of occasions, to breach the national, generic, "mandatory" SSoW in an attempt to get staff to move more than one York Container at a time, in breach of the national SSoW.

The National Distribution Centre (NDC) in Northampton has a local SSoW which contains a very limited and specific variation, appropriate only to NDC's unique cross-docking operation ONLY, as agreed with the Royal Mail National Safety Director, the HSE, CWU/HQ, the RM Ergonomists, RM Logistics and RM Engineering.

The NDC Local SSoW maintains the mandatory rule that Staff move one York at a time as its basic principle for very good reasons and there have been no proposals to change. This SSOW is applicable to NDC only and nowhere else. Specifically it was introduced for the "Cross-Docking" operation at NDC because of unsafe working practices such as "Launching" and "Freewheeling" of York Containers to/from adjacent docks. The resolution involved the HSE who fully endorsed the SSoW, Royal Mail's Ergonomists, Royal Mail HQ and CWU HQ. The National SSoW remains in place and has primacy. NDC Staff do not have to move more than one York Container. They can move two empty or lightly loaded Yorks at a time over short distances e.g. from storage area to nearby Dock or from Dock to Adjacent Dock etc. Royal Mail has made it quite clear that they do not want to expand this anywhere else.

Recently, and not for the first time an attempt was made by an RDC Manager to breach the York Container Safe System Of Work and encourage Royal Mail staff to work unsafely by abandoning the SSoW and to start moving two York Containers at a time all over the RDC. That matter was raised nationally with Royal Mail Logistics and it has been stopped with clear and firm instructions issued to comply with the SSoW.

Let me make it clear, the SSoW determines that the National SSoW holds the field. Staff should only move one York Container at a time.

Attachments:

York Container SSoW V2.6

York Container SSoW RM Opps Bulletin 15.10.12

Yours Sincerely


Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

[24601]

Our managers pull 3 loaded yorks at a time.Well it saves time !!!!!!

[mandelsons_toenail]

Shambles.

Managers constantly moving two yorks at a time, pushing one pulling another.

What are the union gonna do

[Lounge Lizard]

Managers appear to spend more time pushing however many Yorks than doing anything else - the highest paid staff doing the most menial of all the work.
And of course York in one hand, plastic cup of coffee in the other isn't a rare sight.

[redeye67]

I find it quite amusing that grown men are not allowed to move two yorkies at a time I mean how many posters have been seriously injured or killed by this action am guessing none at all
Any way certain mail centres and hubs I drive too this is completely ignored by staff and managers not naming them but when you see managers pushing two sometimes three at a time unloading and loading vehicles it gives me a chuckle

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I find it quite amusing that grown men are not allowed to move two yorkies at a time I mean how many posters have been seriously injured or killed by this action am guessing none at all
Any way certain mail centres and hubs I drive too this is completely ignored by staff and managers not naming them but when you see managers pushing two sometimes three at a time unloading and loading vehicles it gives me a chuckle

Seriously injured - No probably not. But someone damaged their shoulder at our place when moving two. He was off for about 2 weeks and got conducted for it as far as I remember. The argument being that you aren't in full control when you are to one side of both, pulling one and pushing the other, in his case for an unknown reason the rear one spun round and he attempted to stop it tipping off the bay.

[rk81m@hotmail.co.uk]

Any chance if you have electronic copy of LTB? I appreciate its very old. Thnak you

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Any chance if you have electronic copy of LTB? I appreciate its very old. Thnak you

sadly no, although the attachments are still there.