LTB 673/16 RMG National Road Safety Week, 21st – 27th November – Focus on Supporting the BRAKE’ Annual Road Safety Week – CWU ASR Activities

No. 673/2016

14 November 2016

Our Ref: V4/16

RMG National Road Safety Week, 21st – 27th November – Focus on Supporting the BRAKE’ Annual Road Safety Week – CWU ASR Activities

To: All Branches with Postal Members

Dear Colleagues,

This LTB is being issued further to LTBs 284/16, 532/16 and 545/16.

November is the month during which BRAKE’ the road safety charity organise their annual, UK national roads safety week, so the Royal Mail November Quarterly Road Safety Week (RSW), working with the CWU and Unite/CMA will be focusing on jointly supporting the National Brake’ Road Safety Week. This is to remind ASRs that the CWU fully supports the week which is based on full CWU ASR involvement,participation and support.

National Road Safety week is an initiative created and co-ordinated annually by “BRAKE” the Road Safety Charity, supporting and encouraging organisations, employers, fleet operators, Trade Unions and other organisations and communities to raise road safety awareness and prevent needless road deaths and casualties year-round. It also provides a focal point for professionals working in road safety to boost awareness and engagement in their work.

Brake founded Road Safety Week in 1997 as an annual event to raise awareness about road safety. The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department has been actively supporting the campaign annually since 2003.

The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department has, over that period been pressing the HSE to provide guidance and pressing Royal Mail to undertake Driver Risk Assessments. National Health and Safety Officer Dave Joyce was part of the DWP/HSE/TUC Joint Working Group, chaired by Royal Mail Group Chair Richard Dykes, that led to the publication of the HSE’s first “Driving At Work – Managing Work-Related Road Safety” Guidance (INDG382) in 2003 (copy attached) and the CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department worked jointly with Royal Mail to develop the first Royal Mail Driver Risk Assessment in 2005, updated in 2010 and re-launched in 2016.

Following discussions at the 2015 RMG/CWU Joint EU health and safety week national joint SHE Team/ASRs Event, the Joint Royal Mail Road Safety Taskforce was formed and set up in October last year (2015) following discussions and agreement between the CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department and the Royal Mail Group Director of Safety, Health, Environment and Wellbeing Shaun Davis and the RST has met 5 times during the last year, developing a number of Road Safety Initiatives such as Road Safety Week activities.

Every 30 seconds someone somewhere in the world is killed in a road crash. The misery of road death and injuries caused by vehicles is a shameful epidemic that we should all try to reduce. For any company with staff who drive for work – whether it’s a fleet of commercial vehicles, company cars – ignoring fleet driver and road safety can cost dearly. As well as being devastating to those involved, road crashes have massive financial, reputational and legal implications for organisations. For example, in the UK, the cost to employers of at-work road crashes’ is estimated to be more than £2.7 billion a year. At the same time, Road Safety Week is the beginning of a campaign to reduce accidents and injuries as well as business costs through implementing road risk management programme of effective policies and procedures. Investing in fleet risk management therefore makes sound financial sense for all organisations with staff who drive for work.

Managing road risk is also a fundamental part of an employer’s legal and moral duty of care towards its employees and members of the public. Driving is the riskiest activity most employees engage in. Road crashes account for 39% of work-related deaths in the European Union.

The Royal Mail Safety Team and CWU Health and Safety Department have agreed to work together on fleet and driver safety, raising awareness and standards, gaining buy-in, managing and reducing the risk to drivers, vehicles, and journeys; and continually improve fleet and driver safety.

Royal Mail will deliver some key messages through a number of channels including the RMTV, local screens, a poster, Courier, WTLL session and Activity Plans which have been jointly developed and agreed. These are attached.

There will be 3 RM/CWU/Unite.CMA activity plans for Road Safety Week:-

An Activity Plan for Front Line Managers which focuses on completing 4 key activities throughout the week.
An Activity Plan for all other managers which asks Manager to focus their SMATs or Observations on the
completion of the front line manager activity plans and to support the National Brake Road Safety Week.’
An Activity Plan for CWU Area Safety Reps which asks the ASRs to focus their Safety Inspections on the completion of the front line manager activity plans which support the National Brake Road Safety Week.

Please see attached the Royal Mail road safety week activity plans materials.

The Royal Mail Group Regional Safety Health and Environment (SHE) Teams covering Royal Mail, Parcelforce, RMSS have been asked to liaise with the ASRs from both Unions to discuss participation and support with the road safety week’s activities.

ASRs were asked to follow the ASR activity guide and schedule for the week.

During Road Safety Week ASRs are asked to focus their daily Workplace Safety Inspections on a number of Units, preferably high impacting units and liaise with line managers to agree which high impacting units should be focused on and visited/Inspected during the November National Road Safety Week (RSW).

ASR activities are:-

General:

Assist the Front Line Managers in delivering the WTLL jointly.
Carry out a Safety Inspection

Ask Drivers:

Have they received the WTLL briefing for Road Safety Week?
Do they understand and agree with, the principles covered?
Have they seen the Road Safety Week poster?

Use the additional materials to talk to a few drivers about Road Safety Week material. e.g.

What did they get up to over the weekend? Did they have a drink? Show them the ‘morning after calculator’
When did they last have their eyesight checked? Show them the eyesight film
How much sleep did they get last night? Show them the fatigue film
Do they need any additional support, coaching, information or training?

Ask Front Line Managers:

What activities have they completed for Road Safety Week?
Have they delivered the WTLL and displayed the poster?
Have they completed a Driver/Vehicle SMAT?

Observe Vehicles and Drivers:

Are vehicles in good working order, clean and tidy?
Are they safely parked?
Did drivers carry out vehicle checks?
Did they wear their seatbelts?
Remind drivers about not using mobile phones whilst at the wheel.

Finally ASRs should:-

Ensure they’ve recorded their daily Safety Inspections using the agreed process and forms.

Collate and summarise the findings and forward it to the Local, Area, Sector, Plant Managers, SHE Team in the area to provide feedback on the Road Safety Week Activities.

Would ASRs please ensure all their Inspection visit reports are completed and submitted as above and can I thank all ASRs and WSRs for their support.

Finally, the important Safety Issues listed above are not just for Road Safety Week alone! And need to be monitored and be part of Safety Inspections and spot checks on a regular periodic basis, flagging up all shortcomings asap. Road Safety Week provides a high profile special focus on thes
e important Road, Driver and Vehicle Safety matters. ASRs may wish to further discuss the above with the local SHE Team Managers and Advisors and at Health and Safety Joint Committees to suggest some further ongoing joint attention and initiatives to concentrate attention to issues highlighted during the week. The Regional SHE Teams will liaise and work with CWU ASRs in order to ensure full involvement and participation by ASRs and WSRs and from their discussions, organise support for the week’s activities.

The RMG National Road Safety Manager has sent out a communication via the Regions and Business Units Internal Communications managers requesting that front line manager’s activities are supported by the Local/Area/Sector Managers in RM and PFW.

ASRs should contact local SHE team members and Local/Area/Sectors Managers to discuss the activities plan ASAP.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce National Health, Safety & Environment Officer