Workplace Report May 2004

Health & safety news

Postal workers take action on lifting injuries

Safety reps from the CWU communication workers' union have taken action to deal with overweight mail bags, which cause musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain.

Workers recorded information on excessive-weight mailbags being sent to the Brighton office, and sent a log to CWU national health and safety officer Dave Joyce, to take up with Royal Mail management.

Royal Mail's own statistics show that 23,000 days were lost last year as a result of manual handling injuries involving bags.