Protect your Postman!

7th August 2012
Protect your Postman!

The Royal Mail Postal Service and the Communications Workers Union (CWU) have appealed to the public to help keep their staff safe over the school summer holidays.

During the prolonged holiday there is usually a considerable rise in the number of customer’s pets attacking postmen and women, as parents are at home with their children and dogs are allowed unsupervised in the garden or out onto the streets without restraints. Since April 2011, over 3,100 attacks have been reported on Royal Mail staff. Although this is 14% less than in 2010, it is still an unacceptably high number and the company are committed to driving this down further.

The Royal Mail have spent more than £100,000 on awareness campaigns and equipment to help postmen and women reduce the risk of injury, including 90,000 ‘posting pegs’ which are used to push letters through the letter box and protect fingers.

The Communication Workers Union has been working closely with the Royal Mail to raise awareness of aggressive dogs and irresponsible dog ownership, particularly through the CWU-led ‘Bite Back’ campaign. They aim to bring in new laws to protect people who are attacked on private property, as they believe that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is failing to protect both dog owners and attack victims.

Gordon Henderson, MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, said:

“I feel that this is an incredibly important campaign that highlights the unnecessary dangers that postal workers have to face on a daily basis.

“It’s such a shame when these attacks can be so easily prevented. I urge people to make sure that their pets are responsibly guarded over the summer holiday.”