On Wednesday 18th July Royal Mail and the CWU will jointly launch a major ‘two-pronged’ campaign consisting of a Customer Dog Control appeal and an Employee Dog Attack awareness initiative as we approach the Summer School holidays when as Postal Branches all know, we annually see a sharp increase in dog attacks on our members.
Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union will be appealing to dog owners to work with us to help keep their animals under control when the postman/woman calls to deliver mail during the school holidays this summer.
3000 – 4000 postmen and women were attacked across the UK by dogs from April 2011 to April 2012, according to Royal Mail statistics. Joint Efforts by CWU Area Safety Reps and Workplace Safety Reps and Regional Royal Mail safety teams have driven numbers down, since the 2007/8 peak of 6,500 attacks, through the implementation of the new “WRAP Dog Attack Policy” and concerted local efforts to control risks and suspend deliveries where necessary. While the number of attacks has fallen, it still remains unacceptably high and the nature and seriousness of the injuries being received by members is a growing concern. There is a jointly agreed commitment to drive numbers down further and Royal Mail and the CWU are working together to raise awareness of the reality of dog attacks through targeted campaigns and the CWU led ‘Bite-Back’ campaign. There is a Royal Mail ongoing commitment to back the CWU ‘Bite-Back’ Campaign I am pleased to report.
Postmen and women face increased danger during school holidays when parents and children are at home with dogs sometimes allowed unsupervised in the garden or out onto the streets without restraints. Front, Side or Back Doors and windows are left open and dogs are in many cases free to move in and out of the property when Postal delivery staff arrive. This carefree attitude greatly increases the risk of attacks which year on year consistently increase and peak during the prolonged summer school holiday period. Royal Mail and the CWU are asking customers to keep their pets under control and are issuing top tips in an attempt to reduce the number of dog attacks this summer when the number of attacks remains unacceptably high.
Royal Mail’s stated main aim is to always prevent attacks. Where there’s an address with 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’s not possible and deliveries are assessed as unsafe the deliveries will be suspended until such time as the risk is brought under control.
With regards to internal measures to improve the safety of our delivery members, Royal Mail are committed to regularly communicate with the workforce about the dangers of dog attacks and provide advice to postmen and women on techniques to minimise the risk of attacks or harm in the event of an attack. ASRs should be making this a priority as we launch this campaign and engaging in discussions locally with Delivery Management and Royal Mail Regional Safety Teams in order to maximise the impact of the campaign.
Royal Mail has already spent more than £100,000 on awareness campaigns and equipment to help postmen and women reduce the risk of injury with 90,000 ‘posting pegs’ having been distributed across the UK to Delivery Offices. These are the devices used to put letters through the letterbox when dogs are inside in order to protect the fingers of postmen and women. During the last year we have had a number of members have fingers and finger tips bitten off and it’s important the message is conveyed to the delivery workforce on this issue.
It has been agreed that in the autumn, we will be jointly trialling customer leaflets aimed at raising customer awareness to the risks of dog attacks on Postal Workers. The trial areas identified are Central Reading, Huddersfield, Lymington, Morpeth, North Tyneside and Truro.
Royal Mail’s stated policy is that the first priority as an employer is to ensure the welfare and safety of the delivery workforce who provide a valuable service across the UK to the customers.
However, even just being threatened by an unrestrained aggressive dog is a frightening situation for Royal Mail delivery staff and the appeal to owners to keep their pets under control, especially if they know their pets have a territorial nature.
The age old image of the dog attacking the postman is not a laughing matter. Thousands of our members are bitten every year and hundreds suffer debilitating injuries every year which leave them with physical and psychological scarring, some with life changing disabilities and all in the course of doing their job.
There are so many things that dog owners can do to reduce the likelihood of an attack taking place so Royal Mail and the CWU is strongly urging all dog owners to look at these top tips. Prevention is always better than the cure when it comes to dog attacks so we hope that all dog owners will take a moment to check where their pet is, especially over the summer holidays when attacks increase.
Top Tips for Dog Owners
Even the most lovable dog can be a danger to postal staff. Dogs are territorial by nature and if they feel they need to protect themselves, their territory or family, they can become unpredictable.
Here are some for customers to help Royal mail Postal delivery staff deliver the post in safety:
Please keep your dog indoors around the time that the postman/woman (or any other lawful visitor) usually calls to deliver mail.
Dog attacks can happen when you’ve opened the door to sign for an item. Please secure your dog and keep your dog in another room before answering the door and make sure children don’t open the door, as dogs can push by them and attack.
If you have a back garden, please close off the access, in case your dog could get round to the front when the postman/woman calls. Be aware of open side and back doors and window from where the dog can get out.
If your dog likes to attack your mail consider installing a letter box cage. It will protect your post, and your postman’s fingers
If it’s not practical for you to keep your dog away from a postman delivering your mail, please consider fitting a secure mailbox on the edge of your property.
Langley Inquiry
Donald Brydon, Chairman of Royal Mail Group with the full support of the CWU launched an independent inquiry into dog attacks on postal workers earlier this year, led by High Court Judge Sir Gordon Langley, and Inquiry Secretary Lawyer Robert Allnutt. The objective is to produce a report before the end of the year which will have a high level of public standing and to make recommendations to address the problem both internally and externally. The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department have been engaged with the Inquiry team through a number of meetings and has submitted extensive written evidence. The National Officer has been called to give oral evidence at the end of July.
Law changes
In response to the CWU Bite-Back Campaign, the Dangerous Dogs Laws in Scotland and Northern Ireland were changed in Early 2011. The Wales government have given a commitment to change the Law and the CWU continues to work with them. In England the Defra Ministry’s Public Consultation on proposed Dangerous Dogs Act Law Changes closed on 15th June with an all time record breaking 23,000 responses. Also in response to the CWU ‘Bite-Back’ Campaign the ‘Sentencing Council for England and Wales’ recently announced new guidance on how Courts should sentence owners found guilty of dangerous dogs offences, increasing the penalties for offender. From 20 August, owners of dangerous dogs that are out of control and injure someone could face up to 18 months in jail, compared with 12 months currently. Owners of a prohibited dog could face up to six months in jail, up from three months. Fines are increases and Compensation Orders introduced. Royal Mail along with the CWU, have welcomed the guidance and recognise that the majority of dog owners behave responsibly. However, more is needed to tackle the worrying problem of the significant number of irresponsible dog owners. So far the laws on dangerous dogs have been extended to cover attacks on private property in both Northern Ireland and Scotland. Wales is considering bringing the law in line with this, but laws in England are yet to change, despite significant numbers of dog attacks and several government consultations. Major submissions have been made to the Defra Consultation and Sentencing Council Consultation.
The House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee Inquiry
The House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Select Committee of MPs has called an Inquiry into Dog Control, Dog Attacks and Welfare and the National Officer will be meeting the Committee and has been called to give oral evidence in Early September. House of Commons Select Committees are largely concerned with examining the work of government departments and there is a Commons Select Committee for each government department. The committee’s has 11 MP members, who decide upon the line of inquiry and then gather written and oral evidence. Theirdindings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee’s recommendations. This Inquiry provides another platform and vehicle to present and pursue the Union’s policies and ‘Bite-Back’ Campaign objectives.
