Health Surveillance!

[Almighty1]

Hiya all, Has any depots received any health surveillance before their revision has started? Since our revision, about a year ago, we've had 3 people undergo knee surgery, 4 people off with work related stress, and countless complaints and days off sick with back and limb disorders, and the list just goes on. Is their anyway we can insist we have our health checked by the company? I always believed where there have been significant changes to the companies working procedures Health surveillance was compulsory

[DirtyHarry]

Our health, our safety, counts for very little. Royal Mail is an inhuman company to work for.
I know managers who "off record", have said they couldn't , or wouldn't, do what we are expected to do on a daily basis.
I have then seen these very same managers berate and bully weak-willed staff, struggling through various pain barriers to even come close to finishing an absurdly long walk.
I've often wondered how the hell, Royal Mail gets away with what they put us through.
Then I look at the CWU notice board at work, and it suddenly becomes clear.

[Himaggen]

You can make a request to your Manager for an ATOS referral!

[Almighty1]

So frustrating how nothing is ever done about the inhuman and immoral treatment of staff, the RM is getting away with too much. Who suppose to be looking after us and ensuring the RM isn't breaching safety standards? Sounds like their being paid off like our area safety rep is!

[fishtank]

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[5plusbonusball]

You can make a request to your Manager for an ATOS referral!

I was due a checkup referral in late July so asked all my dims and doms for a referral , they all said ok but nothing still has been heard from atos so I guess they've gone against atos decisions now. I gave up asking but put it in my daily diary ready for the big fight.
p.s all must write down or record ALL conversations with management cos they all lie and cheat .

[demon]

but why do all people come on here and winge about it go and get a no win no fee solictor and sue then you can come on here and let us no the outcome and then we can all sue for out work related injurys

[newtimes]

but why do all people come on here and winge about it go and get a no win no fee solictor and sue then you can come on here and let us no the outcome and then we can all sue for out work related injurys

very good point, why does our union not do a test case with our money, in fact a well organised union would of used a no win no fee solicitor.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

but why do all people come on here and winge about it go and get a no win no fee solictor and sue then you can come on here and let us no the outcome and then we can all sue for out work related injurys

very good point, why does our union not do a test case with our money, in fact a well organised union would of used a no win no fee solicitor.

A little difficult to do that when it backed the introduction of the new methods anyway.

[Himaggen]

You can make a request to your Manager for an ATOS referral!

I was due a checkup referral in late July so asked all my dims and doms for a referral , they all said ok but nothing still has been heard from atos so I guess they've gone against atos decisions now.

When you ask for a referral, your Manager must provide you with a consent form, for your completion, before they can make that referral. Did you receive it, complete it and return it to your Manager?

[5plusbonusball]

Never seen a consent form, had one phone call then a written FINAL report but I need to tell them about the outcome of my hospital appointments because my pain is for life and rm need to recognise this even though they ignore it. I'll ask the dom about a consent form asap.

[Almighty1]

but why do all people come on here and winge about it go and get a no win no fee solictor and sue then you can come on here and let us no the outcome and then we can all sue for out work related injurys

very good point, why does our union not do a test case with our money, in fact a well organised union would of used a no win no fee solicitor.

A little difficult to do that when it backed the introduction of the new methods anyway.

Okay, but are these all these new working methods being implimented correctly? I can answer that one and the answer is NO! We dont have a chance to use a LWT's as there's to much pressure from managers to complete our walks, walks would be impossible to complete if we used a LWT or used the max bag weight matrix correctly for that matter! I wish I could carry just carry 8kg up stairs as the walk log suggests, but this is just an unrealistic joke as we're just under to much pressure to complete. I cannot help but think the top H&S bods are in the managers pockets, if they were a little proactive we wouldn't have half the problems we have now with ATOS referrals, busted knees and backs or work related stress issues. It's my understanding when somebodies off with work related stress there suppose to be a stress risk assessment of the office completed. When have one of these ever been carried out? Never because our top safety reps sitting in their ivory tower don't give a hoot, thats why!

[Himaggen]

It's my understanding when somebodies off with work related stress there suppose to be a stress risk assessment of the office completed. When have one of these ever been carried out? Never because our top safety reps sitting in their ivory tower don't give a hoot, thats why!

Do you expect that in order for a risk assessment to be carried out you would have been aware of it. Many large organisations have a set of relatively generic risk assessments and policies for dealing with those risks. Most are only altered when it is identified that local situational factors fall outside of the generic model. Simply because one, or a moderately low number, of employees take time out with reported work related stress does not trigger a re-assessment. Each employees stress response to pressure is very individual to them, no two persons are likely to respond in exactly the same manner. As a result your workplace would only re-assess if a pattern of similar medical, psychological or behavioural symptoms become evident.
Whether your local systems or responsible persons are capable of identifying a pattern of symptoms I cannot say but just because you don't see it doesn't mean it never happens!

[Almighty1]

It's my understanding when somebodies off with work related stress there suppose to be a stress risk assessment of the office completed. When have one of these ever been carried out? Never because our top safety reps sitting in their ivory tower don't give a hoot, thats why!

Do you expect that in order for a risk assessment to be carried out you would have been aware of it. Many large organisations have a set of relatively generic risk assessments and policies for dealing with those risks. Most are only altered when it is identified that local situational factors fall outside of the generic model. Simply because one, or a moderately low number, of employees take time out with reported work related stress does not trigger a re-assessment. Each employees stress response to pressure is very individual to them, no two persons are likely to respond in exactly the same manner. As a result your workplace would only re-assess if a pattern of similar medical, psychological or behavioural symptoms become evident.
Whether your local systems or responsible persons are capable of identifying a pattern of symptoms I cannot say but just because you don't see it doesn't mean it never happens!

I believe If 3 people so far out of 25 in the first year of the revision have been off with work related stress, then yes i do believe the company are aware off this problem, especially if ATOS are also telling them so. You also forgot to mention the severity of the risk, amongst other things is this not a factor when carrying out a risk assessment? 1 of the 3 OPG's mentioned tried to take their own life, could be wrong, but this sounds quite severe to me. Your also stating" because one, or a moderately low number, of employees take time out with reported work related stress does not trigger a re-reassessment" Really? Because if one, or a moderately low number, of employees take time out with reported tripping over strapex in the office for example, wouldn't you recommend a re-assessment be carried out to prevent anymore accidents, injuries and time lost at work? Does the RM have a legal duty to safe guard all employees from all hazards associated with work? Apparently not hmmmm

[Himaggen]

I believe If 3 people so far out of 25 in the first year of the revision have been off with work related stress, then yes i do believe the company are aware off this problem, especially if ATOS are also telling them so.

If you read my last response, "Whether your local systems or responsible persons are capable of identifying a pattern of symptoms I cannot say", the fact that you believe they're incapable does not mean all are, and "the top H&S bods are in the managers pockets".

You also forgot to mention the severity of the risk, amongst other things is this not a factor when carrying out a risk assessment?

No it isn't, as I've already stated, "Each employees stress response to pressure is very individual to them"; the risk would remain the same, the methods used to identify and prevent triggers, symptoms and patterns will be re-assessed.

if one, or a moderately low number, of employees take time out with reported tripping over strapex in the office for example, wouldn't you recommend a re-assessment be carried out to prevent anymore accidents, injuries and time lost at work?

The risk of tripping over strapex does not change in that case, the methods used to minimize the risk to a lower level may, but more likely those methods will remain the same and the actioning of them re-assessed.