Unacheivable Delivery mail and parcels continues!

[Cherry Cigar]

I'm a 28hr part-timer in delivery. We have had a revision in our office about 8 months ago. I have a fixed duty and no permanent full-time partner. I have anyone they can find for the day or week and am regularly on my own. We are very short-staffed in our office. The thing is the constant building up of mail and parcels and rotation of frames, which I do understand is a problem in other offices too and haven't been living under a rock, but I'm getting to my actual point. I suffer from musculoskeletal problems and have to see a chiropractor and have done this before, but recently I've been seeing one quite regularly and I am doing preventative exercises each day! I am using a trolley much more frequently, but even with a trolley, I am getting repetitive strain although reduced somewhat. The problem I have is taking a walk/duty out, especially on my own, which I know is not going to be completed and just going around on a trip in the van which can be the whole walk/duty. I am placing heavy bags in the van for no reason just to take them out when I return. Surely this is a manual handling issue and double lifting, as well as being unproductive as it's taking time off of me/ RM. I am sick of going through this cycle and I suspect others in the forum have gone through similar. RM have to look like they are attempting the mail/frame/duty, but surely this can be done at the clerical level by managers and not physically done by me or anyone else? This is just the pure desperation of RM with the eye blinkers on trying to make something work which clearly does not! Ok, some colleagues will say just work to your time and go home, but it's just not as simple as that, (though I actually do this!) In addition, Tracked items are not a priority! OK, It's great to leave them or take them with you and prioritise the mail, but they are sitting there the next day to the dismay of your manager, so this does not work either! Psychologically speaking I can get myself through this job and the rhetoric that comes with it! But when it's putting such a physical impact on me, which is partially out of my control, without successfully delivering, I'm not entirely sure how long I want to be in this job, unless it changes and there are better staffing levels!

[derkhead]

Your health is your number one priority, if your struggling now, how will you physically and mentally feel in a few years from now? My advice would be to find a better employer to go work for.

[fb1969]

I spent my last couple of years at RM pushing myself physically and mentally. I left and then had two near breakdowns in a short space of time. Anyone feeli g any kind of pressure should seriously look at getting out as soon as they can.

[lee.uk]

If you suffer from musculoskeletal problems, I would probably question whether being a delivery person would be the best career path. Your health must come before anything else. Packets are on the increase (in the short term up to Christmas and in the long term due to people ordering online), so lifting and carrying items will not get any easier. Best of luck.

[Cherry Cigar]

I spent my last couple of years at RM pushing myself physically and mentally. I left and then had two near breakdowns in a short space of time. Anyone feeli g any kind of pressure should seriously look at getting out as soon as they can.

I had a mental health breakdown just after COVID and was unofficially full-time for about 7 years. I contacted 1st class support and had 4 weeks of work. I was just running myself into oblivion. I was taking anti-depressants, but have stopped taking them recently which wasn't easy!

[Cherry Cigar]

If you suffer from musculoskeletal problems, I would probably question whether being a delivery person would be the best career path. Your health must come before anything else. Packets are on the increase (in the short term up to Christmas and in the long term due to people ordering online), so lifting and carrying items will not get any easier. Best of luck.

Exactly that! I do heavily question being in this job with these ongoing problems and it is caused by repetitive strain. At the moment I'm barely managing the impact of this each day! It's better physical management on my part, but in no way ideal! However manual handling is a shared responsibility between you and the employer. I don't see RM keeping up their side with the revisions they have created. Personally, I think they are in breach of HS by creating this chaotic working environment without enough staff to cover the workload! Union I thought we were going to hold them to account, what's going on?

[guardianangel]

If you suffer from musculoskeletal problems, I would probably question whether being a delivery person would be the best career path. Your health must come before anything else. Packets are on the increase (in the short term up to Christmas and in the long term due to people ordering online), so lifting and carrying items will not get any easier. Best of luck.

Exactly that! I do heavily question being in this job with these ongoing problems and it is caused by repetitive strain. At the moment I'm barely managing the impact of this each day! It's better physical management on my part, but in no way ideal! However manual handling is a shared responsibility between you and the employer. I don't see RM keeping up their side with the revisions they have created. Personally, I think they are in breach of HS by creating this chaotic working environment without enough staff for the workload! Union?!

Totally agree with you the CWU and Health and Safety should be doing more,im now taking 3 days mail and packets in a trolley which is now under strain and too small for the job being on a steep hilly walk with lots of steps bumping the trolley up and down and pushing this weight up and down this terrain is having a detrimental effect on my health.

[Cherry Cigar]

If you suffer from musculoskeletal problems, I would probably question whether being a delivery person would be the best career path. Your health must come before anything else. Packets are on the increase (in the short term up to Christmas and in the long term due to people ordering online), so lifting and carrying items will not get any easier. Best of luck.

Exactly that! I do heavily question being in this job with these ongoing problems and it is caused by repetitive strain. At the moment I'm barely managing the impact of this each day! It's better physical management on my part, but in no way ideal! However manual handling is a shared responsibility between you and the employer. I don't see RM keeping up their side with the revisions they have created. Personally, I think they are in breach of HS by creating this chaotic working environment without enough staff for the workload! Union?!

Totally agree with you the CWU and Health and Safety should be doing more,im now taking 3 days mail and packets in a trolley which is now under strain and too small for the job being on a steep hilly walk with lots of steps bumping the trolley up and down and pushing this weight up and down this terrain is having a detrimental effect on my health.

I used to have a very hilly and steppy walk and recently spoke to a colleague doing my old walk! I hardly used a trolley on this walk, because I could split the bags or even triple-split them, but after several days of non-attendance of delivering mail on the walk a trolley was needed, Some walks/terrain are not ideally compatible with a trolley either this was one of them! Just can't believe it. Practicality and common sense have completely disappeared out the window!

[Woody Guthrie]

Totally agree with you the CWU and Health and Safety should be doing more,im now taking 3 days mail and packets in a trolley which is now under strain and too small for the job being on a steep hilly walk with lots of steps bumping the trolley up and down and pushing this weight up and down this terrain is having a detrimental effect on my health.

Who is ultimately responsible for your health and safety at work?

A. Royal Mail
B. The CWU
C The HSE
D. You

Until you do something about it no-one else can.
Trollies are not suitable for steep or hilly terrain and they have weight limits.
Stop making things easy for them

[George50]

Aye you are responsible but work also have a duty of care towards all employees also the union have health and safety reps who should be active in this and lots of other issues but they do nothing except walk around.i have never seen such poor management and union in any workplace.

[mattick]

2-3 days mail left in the frame now was what was a days mail 10 years ago. This job has never been easier in my opinion. Maybe just play the game. Use a trolley, tell management before tying up you you’re not committed to completing. If you can work on your own, even better. Quality of service failure isn’t your responsibility

[Cherry Cigar]

2-3 days mail left in the frame now was what was a days mail 10 years ago. This job has never been easier in my opinion. Maybe just play the game. Use a trolley, tell management before tying up you you’re not committed to completing. If you can work on your own, even better. Quality of service failure isn’t your responsibility

It's all very well saying this when your working on your own or have a similar agenda to your working partner, but I'll give you one example: I can have thick door 2 doors placed in most of the delivery mon-wed for example and is already in the frame caused by a full-timer coming in early before their time and sometimes working meal breaks getting them in early! This particular situation happened to me this week and where the dutys have had one person on them delivering on odd days, obviously this has an impact on weight on the other duty/s the following days! To be honest that day I took that duty out the trolley felt way overloaded with just mail! This was the same duty I took out previously the day before, just to have a ride around in the van because I was on my own!

[Spartacus]

2-3 days mail left in the frame now was what was a days mail 10 years ago. This job has never been easier in my opinion. Maybe just play the game. Use a trolley, tell management before tying up you you’re not committed to completing. If you can work on your own, even better. Quality of service failure isn’t your responsibility

How many calls did you have ten years ago as opposed to today?

The job has never been more physically demanding and walks have never been longer than they currently are, get some perspective.

[mattick]

If compared to one day back then to one day now; 95% I would say was a regular call rate for walks back then, as opposed to 65-70% now. It wasn’t unusual for all your bags to be 20kg+. You could expect 5-7 sets of door to doors to your average 1-2 sets you get now.

[SpacePhoenix]

If compared to one day back then to one day now; 95% I would say was a regular call rate for walks back then, as opposed to 65-70% now. It wasn’t unusual for all your bags to be 20kg+. You could expect 5-7 sets of door to doors to your average 1-2 sets you get now.

Don't know if it's down to staff shortage s at the DO that covers where I live but we can go for weeks without getting a single D2D item in the post