SOUTH WEST WALES BRANCH
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SOUTH WEST WALES BRANCH |
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Alun Griffiths - Area Safety Rep |
HEALTH AND
SAFETY
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John Edwards - Deputy Area Safety Rep |
| Officers Reps | Royal Mail | Legal Services | Pensions | Extreme Weather | Archive Pictures | Change details | Join CWU TEXT Service |
| Pregnancy at Work | Mobile Phones The Law | Highway code | Cars on Delivery |
Minutes and dates of Safety Committees
| SW Area Safety Committee | Next Meeting | W&M Safety Forum | Next Meeting | Swansea Mail Centre Committee | Next Meeting | SA Delivery Committee | Next Meeting |
| Minutes | 6th October 2009 | Minutes | 13th/14th October 2009 | Minutes | TBA | Minutes | 5th October 2009 |
Please click
here for the - downloadable
electronic pdf file version of the SRSC (Safety Reps/Safety Committees) Regulations
"Brown Book" TUC A4 Version (pdf).
Swine Flu Briefing issued by Royal Mail
Telemetry/ RTA Procedure/Driver Interventions
Driver Jailed after using a Mobile Phone Before Killing another Motorist
Insurers join Police in Crackdown on Mobile Phone use when Driving
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Rest
Breaks at Work and the Law
a limit of an average of 48 hours a week which a worker can be required to work (though workers can choose to work more if they want to).
a
right to 11 hours rest a day. a
right to a day off each week. a
right to an in-work rest break if the working day is longer than 6
hours. a right to 4 weeks paid leave per year.
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Insurers join Police in Crackdown on Mobile Phone use when Driving
Police forces are not the only ones cracking down on motorists who risk lives by using hand-held mobile phones. Motor insurers are now showing support by increasing the premiums quoted for offenders - or even refusing cover, according to new data from the AA.
As well as being stung with the fixed £60 penalty charge, UK motorists could be forking out a total of £5.4million extra each year in Insurance premiums based on the Department of Transport latest figures from the amount of offenders fined in 2007 and the average increase from the research by the Automobile Association. Some insurers are increasing premiums by 18.1 per cent for those clients convicted of a mobile phone driving offence because of the higher risk.
In an AA survey of motor insurers one insurer refused to quote for drivers with a mobile telephone conviction. Other companies increased the insurance premium from between 4.2 per cent to 18.1 per cent.
AA's research also reveals that in real money terms the average insurance premium rises by almost £40 a year - and well over £100 over the three year offence endorsement remains on a drivers licence.Drivers attempting to use a hand held mobile phone also put themselves at risk of being charged with careless driving, which, coupled with a mobile phone offence, could lead to a driving ban. The AA survey found that half of the insurers refused to quote for careless driving offenders whilst others imposed premium increases of up to 50 per cent.
The AA say that driving whilst using a hand-held mobile phone places drivers at a greater risk of having an accident - it slows reactions and you are less able to control the car. Insurance companies quite rightly take such offences seriously.
Many offenders are not aware of the premium rise and we hope that raising awareness of this extra cost will help members to think twice about chatting on a hand-held phone when driving.
In the event of an accident, police now routinely check mobile phone records to find out whether use of a phone was a contributory cause.
Members should also dismiss any ideas about not telling their insurers about mobile phone convictions or any other motoring offences when they take out or renew their cover. They will be asked if they have incurred any endorsements on their licence. If they are not truthful then it could invalidate their insurance cover.
A very large number of CWU Members drive as part of their job and they should be aware of all the risks.
Driver Jailed after
using a Mobile Phone Before Killing another Motorist
A recent court case demonstrates to
drivers the danger of risking the use of a mobile phone whilst driving and
should serve as a clear warning to all CWU members who drive as part of their
job and drive privately.
A woman has been sent to jail
for 21 months after using her mobile phone to make a series of calls and send
a number of text messages before she hit and killed another motorist.
Following the accident a phone record check proved that driver Philippa Curtis
of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk had made calls and sent and received messages
before she ran into the back of a stationary car at 70mph, killing the other
driver. She had denied using her mobile phone at the time of the collision but
was found guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of Victoria McBryde,
24, of Horton, Northamptonshire, following a trial at Oxford Crown Court in
December.
Curtis had been on her way to Oxford on November 20 2007, when she collided with Miss McBryde’s Peugeot 106 on the A40, near Wheatley. Miss McBryde, who had stopped to deal with a burst tyre, was pronounced dead from a brain injury after the collision. The court heard that Curtis made various calls as she was driving and sent more than 20 text messages to a number of friends on her phone. Shortly after making a call she collided with Miss McBryde, who was sitting in her car, waiting for assistance to arrive.
Curtis’s car then spun into oncoming traffic, hitting two more vehicles, a van and a lorry. Curtis said she had felt that using a phone while driving was acceptable and said she could send and receive messages without taking her eyes off the road. Curtis, who denied the charge of causing death by dangerous driving, said she felt “awful” for causing the death of another young woman. “I can’t really describe in words how bad I actually feel,” she told the court. “I just feel awful that I was involved and I can’t really imagine how the family must feel.”
Telemetry/ RTA Procedure/Driver Interventions LTB 908/08
As you will be aware, Telemetry equipment once fitted to a vehicle will record and provide detailed information on how the vehicle was being driven in real time and will indicate; speeding, harsh braking and Incidents/collisions
The equipment will hopefully become a useful tool in improving occupational road safety and legal compliance for our members benefit. However, discussions are currently underway on how the Telemetry outputs will; be used with the Union arguing for a joint Royal Mail/CWU approach to driver related issues based on a remedial rather than punitive objectives with talks on a revised Road Traffic Accident (RTA) Procedure to be renamed the Driving Safely Procedure also proceeding including counselling, support and training initiatives/interventions. While progress has been made, no final agreement has been reached and as such current RTA procedures and associated processes remain in place.
In the mean time CWU HQ has become aware of some Royal Mail AGMs areas attempting to unilaterally introduce amended Telemetry/ RTA processes in some cases presented local telemetry processes as Health and Safety initiatives. No agreements should be made locally which may undermine national talks. Therefore until national negotiations are concluded and agreement reached, Branches and Safety Reps are advised not to enter into any local agreements which may undermine the national talks and any proposals received should be brought to the attention of CWU HQ.
GUIDE FOR WORKPLACE SAFETY REPS
New
Updated Safety Representatives & Safety Committees Regulations Legal
Guidance (replacement for the "brown book)"
Recently
Branches were informed that the HSE had produced a new publication entitled
"Consulting Workers on Health and Safety" ( L146) which replaces L87
(also known as the Brown Book).
The
Government and the HSE have supported the need for new revised and
strengthened guidance to the SRSC Regulations in a revamped "Brown
Book". That work has now been completed and the HSE have published
the new
legal guidance which replaces the old "Brown Book".
"Consulting
Workers on Health and Safety" (L146) replaces
L87 (also known as 'the Brown Book). It provides the new legal
guidance and contains the 1977 Safety Representatives and Safety
Committee Regulations, the 1996 Health and Safety (Consultation with
Employees) Regulations, along with the Approved Codes of Practice and New
extended Guidance. It is 74 pages long and costs £13.95 a copy. It
is aimed at Employers, Safety Representatives and Trade Union Officials.
Contents: Preface; Introduction; Part 1: Safety Representatives and Safety
Committees Regulations 1977 (as amended); Part 2: Health and Safety
(Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996! (as amended); Appendices;
References;
The
new guidance was launched in October by Health and Safety Minister Lord
McKenzie and HSE Chair Judith Hackitt who both spoke strongly in support of
Trade Union Safety Representatives and the benefits of better safety standards
provided by actively involved Safety Reps. They also stressed the need
for Employers to comply with the Law requiring consultation and involvement.
The TUC negotiated with the HSE to publish a 'free' version of the revised SRSC Regulations Brown Book for use by Trade Union Health and Safety Representatives and on Safety Reps Training Courses. It contains the 1977 Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations, ACoP, New Guidance, and the Appendixes. The booklet also lists all other Health and Safety Legislation that requires Employers to consult with Safety Representatives and workers. The CWU Health, Safety and Environment Department has received 1500 copies which are being distributed to Branches, Regional Health and Safety Forums and to the Education and Training Department with this LTB. Distribution will be on the basis of 6 per Branch, 10 per Regional Health ! and Safety Forum and 100 to the Education and Training Department with the rest held in stock. Please ensure these are received by Senior Safety Reps and held in Branches as Health and Safety reference/ resource material.
PURGE ON WEARING SEATBELTS
Wearing
a seat belt in the front of any vehicle became compulsory in 1983 and since in
1991 it became mandatory for all adults to wear a seat belt in any seat, in any
vehicle at all times. There is no
exemption for Royal Mail drivers whatsoever, and contrary to some peoples
opinions there is no exemption for short trip collection or delivery drivers
Royal
Mail is committed to maintain and improve safety for all employees, and could
instigate applicable conduct code procedures against a driver if it was thought
that they had failed to comply with basic safety policy.
You
may think that it would not happen to YOU
Copyright © CWU South West Wales Branch 2007
