TOP TIPS FOR DOG OWNERS & TOP TIPS FOR POSTMEN AND WOMEN

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Letter to Branches




No. 430/14
Ref P18/14
Date: 1 July 2014

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues

ROYAL MAIL/CWU – DOG AWARENESS WEEK 30 JUNE-4 JULY 2014 – KEY MESSAGES - TOP TIPS FOR DOG OWNERS & TOP TIPS FOR POSTMEN AND WOMEN

Further to LTB 413/14 which gave a detailed update and information prior to this week's Dog Awareness Week Launch here is an report on the key messages and our Top
Tips for Dog Owners and Top Tips for Postmen and Women. I would urge all ASRs and WSRs to become actively involved during the week and concentrate attention to the
Week’s activities, messages and communications to staff, adding support. The 2014 Royal Mail/CWU Dog Awareness Week is launched today with a joint embargoed press
release and will be a high profile awareness raising campaign aimed at Royal Mail customers who are dog owners and our own delivery staff members.  The annual Dog
Awareness campaign’s aim is to raise understanding of the issue of dog attacks on postmen and women with a purpose of avoiding and reducing the high number of serious injuries sustained by postal workers across the UK. Royal Mail and CWU will be working in partnership to encourage responsible dog ownership and to appeal to dog owners to keep their animals under control when the postman or woman calls to deliver letters, packets and parcels or ‘signed for’ items.

Key Messages - Top Tips for Dog Owners

Keep your dog indoors around the time the postman/woman calls to deliver the mail.
Before you open the door to collect a parcel or sign for an item – put your dog in another room.
Make sure children don’t open the door, as dogs can push past them and attack the postman or woman.
If you have a back garden, close off the access so your dog can’t get round to the front of the house when the postman or woman calls.
If your dog attacks the mail and could bite the postman or woman’s fingers as he/she puts mail through the letterbox, please fit a letterbox cage to protect your mail and the postman/woman’s fingers.
If it is not practical for you to keep your dog away from the postman or woman delivering your mail, consider fitting an outside secure mail box on the edge of your property.
REMEMBER – It is now a criminal offence if your dog attacks the postman or woman on your private property (Dangerous Dogs Act Law changed in May
2014).

Key Messages - Top Tips for Postmen and Women to Keep Safe

Never put your fingers through any letterbox – use a posting peg – if you can’t deliver the mail safely then don’t deliver it!  -  Take it back to the Delivery
Office and report it to your manager.
Before entering gardens, look for signs of a dog’s presence (dog signs, dog bowls, dog blankets, dog toys, dog bones etc.,) – rattle the gate to make some noise to see if a dog is around that you can’t see.
Never accept a dog owner’s assurance that their dog won’t harm you – ask them to restrain it and take a step away.
Never enter a property where there is a potential or perceived risk or a dog is running loose – report it immediately to your manager and CWU Safety representative.
If you can - use your pouch or trolley as a barrier between you and the dog if confronted.
Write a letter ‘D’ in the top right-hand corner of the first letter for a property, or use warning cards or stickers where you know there is a dog hazard to remind you on the round where extra vigilance may be required.

Royal Mail and CWU’s main aim is to always prevent attacks. Where there’s an address with an identified risk from a dog, Royal Mail are committed to working with the customer to agree simple steps to ensure the mail can be delivered safely. Where that is not possible and deliveries are assessed as unsafe the deliveries will be suspended until such time as the risk is brought under control.

With regard to internal measures to improve the safety of our delivery workers, Royal Mail is committed to regularly communicating with the workforce about the dangers of dog attacks and providing advice to postmen and women on techniques to minimise the risk of attacks or harm in the event of an attack.

Why This Week?

The number of dog attacks peaks during the summer school holidays and we annually see a sharp increase in dog attacks on delivery A third of all dog attacks on Postal
Workers occur during the months of June, July and August.

Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union will be appealing to dog owners to work with them to help keep their animals under control when the postman/woman calls to deliver mail, packets, parcels and signed-for items, during the school holidays this summer.

Yours sincerely


Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety and Environment Officer

Attachment

Dog Awareness Week - Joint "Newsflash"