Royal Mail to ban push bike postal deliveries on "health & safety" grounds.

Run_to_da_hills

If this is true it will be the greatest load of health & safety bo*lixology that we have heard to date.

Looks like the UK is about to phase out postal deliveries by push bike on "health & safety" grounds.and issue out postal vans instead.

One would assume that with current enviornmental concerns it would be the oposite.

Could this also happen in Ireland?

Nothing would surprise me with these shower of fascist muppets that run the H&S and insurance departments.



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1262239/Royal-Mail-phases-postmens-bikes-health-safety-fears.html

morninwood

I can see why they do it.

hynesie

morninwood wrote: »

I can see why they do it.

He should keep his elbows in for a more aero position

SerialComplaint

Don't believe everything (or anything) you read in the Daily Mail;

Check out the Facebook group for "The Daily Mail list of 'Things that give you cancer'"

tomasrojo

It's somewhat believable. The unfounded belief that cycling is extremely dangerous is engrained and largely unexamined. Most decision makers have no experience or knowledge of cycling.

The irony that these postmen who hitherto have had daily life-prolonging exercise might now die a few years earlier in the name of health is quite rich.

petethedrummer

SerialComplaint wrote: »

Don't believe everything (or anything) you read in the Daily Mail;

Check out the Facebook group for "The Daily Mail list of 'Things that give you cancer'"

Or here it is in song form.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eBT6OSr1TI

Captain Havoc

SerialComplaint wrote: »

Don't believe everything (or anything) you read in the Daily Mail;

Check out the Facebook group for "The Daily Mail list of 'Things that give you cancer'"

Holy fück, how I'm still alive is anyones guess.

petethedrummer

Space Travel?

Captain Havoc

petethedrummer wrote: »

Space Travel?

If you're a black woman who wears a bra, you're totally screwed.

victorcarrera

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Looks like the UK is about to phase out postal deliveries by push bike on "health & safety" grounds.and issue out postal vans instead.
Could this also happen in Ireland?

The proposal might be based on the assumption that delivery vans are always safely parked and that van driving post persons always adhere to safety guidelines and rules of the road when making a delivery.
That is not always the case in my experience.

monument

The Irish Daily Mail already had an article trying to claim the bikes were being phased out here.

That was about a year or two ago. Guess what? An Post still use them.

gbee

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I

Could this also happen in Ireland?

Nothing would surprise me with these shower of fascist muppets that run

l

Yes PLEASE, and then BAN ALL BIKE, and remove bike lanes ~ what a breath of fresh air and reasonable thinking.

Bikes of all sorts have NO place in modern society and NO place in the mass transport and NO place on the multiple usage policy of our road network .... absolutely, but it has to be for ALL bikes, ALL bikes..... I'm happy, please don't tell me it's an April's fool, if so I'll be caught and devastated ...

tomasrojo

gbee wrote: »

Bikes of all sorts have NO place in modern society and NO place in the mass transport and NO place on the multiple usage policy of our road network .... absolutely, but it has to be for ALL bikes, ALL bikes..... I'm happy, please don't tell me it's an April's fool, if so I'll be caught and devastated ...

Is English your first language?

DirkVoodoo

tomasrojo wrote: »

Is English your first language?

I wouldn't expect much from a guy who posts this kind of rubbish:

IMO, school and education is way overrated. School and degrees prepare one for a monotonous existence in some field of expertise, one soon yearns for the retirement freedom and capitol releases.

I think some folk should think before they start typing. Ban all bikes? What an idea!

In fact, what does that quote mean, the more I read it the more confused I become!

DirkVoodoo

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

I wouldn't expect much from a guy who posts this kind of rubbish:



I think some folk should think before they start typing. Ban all bikes? What an idea!

In fact, what does that quote mean, the more I read it the more confused I become!

Ban all idiots. It's one thing to feed the trolls but feeding idiots is even worse.

At least Tim Allen could speak English.

DirkVoodoo

Deleted User wrote: »

Ban all idiots. It's one thing to feed the trolls but feeding idiots is even worse.

I know, I know...

Actually on the subject, we got a new postman the other day, he dropped off some CRC packages for me in the morning, I was a little late getting to the door but when I opened it he was standing there in the rain. I apologised, he just smiled, handed them to me and went on his way. If he jumped in the air and clicked his heels I wouldn't have been surprised.

Anyway, about an hour later he comes back, on his bike, with a parcel from wiggle he forgot to deliver. I was stunned! This guy was quite possibly the model postman, my Mum and myself couldn't get over it. He could easily have said "feck it" and left it until tomorrows round, I think I should actually write to An Post and praise the guy.

Ya, postmen rule. We've always been on first name terms with the postmen we've had, and given them a little pressie at christmas and so on. I've always admired the post bikes actually they look very well made, and fair dues to the guys cycling them up the hills of cork with about 50kg of mail strapped on to them.

dunworth1

Deleted User wrote: »

and fair dues to the guys cycling them up the hills of cork with about 50kg of mail strapped on to them.

i would love to know how they do it

but i bet its fun going down them



as for this rubbish about banning bikes it wont happen if you think about it its easier for a postman to be on a bike and imagine the waste of petrol :eek:

gman2k

There is an article in one of today's papers re Finland's Postal service, and plans there for mail to be opened by the PO, scanned and emailed to you instead - saves fuel and wages!
Dunno if it's an April fool - here's a description from the Finnish Posti website,
And here.

gbee

Post by post ... what I say in one thread has relevance in that thread at the time of posting.

Sure, why not ban all bikes ... if the story is legit it's no more idiotic ... I did not take it seriously for a minute as my obvious and over the top post should have been taken for that, it was April's fools after all.

I've a sophisticated sense of humour and a turn of phrase, one needs to be up speed on current affairs to get my satire.

My post was funny at the time.

blorg

gman2k wrote: »

There is an article in one of today's papers re Finland's Postal service, and plans there for mail to be opened by the PO, scanned and emailed to you instead - saves fuel and wages!
Dunno if it's an April fool - here's a description from the Finnish Posti website,
And here.

I don't think that is an April Fool, I think they are doing it.

Would be a godsend, I hate paper mail with a passion. I already get as much as I can (bank statements, etc) in electronic format; to have a simple centralised mechanism for this would make a lot of sense.

catbear

I actually wouldn't be surprised if there was a green energy push behind such a move, if it is true. Nothing like a fleet of electric mini-vans to spread to the word, free advertising really. I think the US post use electric carts for the city mail.

tomasrojo

They are ditching the postal deliveries by bike in the UK.

http://road.cc/content/news/16001-safety-concerns-prime-reason-behind-phasing-out-royal-mail-bikes

The Royal Mail has confirmed long-standing rumours that the traditional postal worker’s bike is to be phased out, citing the dangers faced by cyclists on Britain’s roads as a prime motivation behind the decision, and has rejected calls to use cargo tricyles instead of vans to deliver letters and parcels.

I guess our lot will probably follow. There is a marked tendency here to do whatever is done in the UK.

ten speed racer

Sounds like it has very little to do with with health and safety, Royal Mail just look like they're searching for an excuse to get rid of the bikes: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/31/postal-service-cycling-environment

Bunnyhopper

Union backs Royal Mail bike cuts

In an unusual show of support for Royal Mail cuts, union leaders have publicly endorsed management plans to phase out bikes for postal deliveries.

The CWU said it "fully supported" the changes, which will see the current fleet of 24,000 bikes reduced to just a few hundred.

The union said thousands of postal workers have been injured in cycling accidents.

The plan has been attacked by cycling campaigners.
…

Read the rest here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11234447

So where and when will I be able pick up a cheap, secondhand Pashley work bike in a fetching red colorway?

niceonetom

I don't really care how the mail is delivered as long as it is. It's not a cycling issue at all, it's a postal workers' issue - let them do as they see fit.

seamus

The union said that 13 cycle delivery postmen and women had been killed at work over the past 15 years, and thousands more injured as the result of road traffic accidents.

That sounds pretty good to me tbh. 24,000 bikes, 5 days a week over 15 years is 93 million journeys. And only 13 deaths and few thousand injuries. That's an awesomely good safety record.

I wonder how many postmen have been killed in traffic collisions in vans in the same period and how many driving-only posties have died from heart disease during or soon after their employment.

niceonetom - I imagine the main concern is that this may be seen as justification by other employers to withdraw their support for cyclists in the form of facilities and tax breaks "because cycling to work is too dangerous and not to be encouraged".

tomasrojo

Yeah, those statistics looked ok. The UK government backed the phase-out on logistical grounds. It was notable that they didn't back the management's original justification on safety grounds, because, frankly, it isn't valid on safety grounds.

This is the usual thing of taking somebody dying on a bike as conclusive evidence that cycling is too dangerous. Oddly enough, this standard isn't applied to any other form of transport. Usually some idea of relative risk is required for them.

Lumen

niceonetom wrote: »

I don't really care how the mail is delivered as long as it is. It's not a cycling issue at all, it's a postal workers' issue - let them do as they see fit.

They are not being "let do as they see fit".

BBC wrote:

But the CWU accused CTS of misrepresenting the facts.

"For every postman and woman who loves their bicycle, there's one that hates them," a union spokesperson said.

So rather than letting each postperson decide on their mode of transport, the unions/bosses decide for them.

Useless shower of idiots.

DirkVoodoo

Lumen wrote: »

They are not being "let do as they see fit".



So rather than letting each postperson decide on their mode of transport, the unions/bosses decide for them.

Useless shower of idiots.

Maybe they could use it as a carrot/stick system: Postmen who are on time for work, pleasant and in good physical shape get to use the van for a month. The lazy lump who never smiles and drives like an asshole (some of the worst driving I see around my area is by green an post vans, they are all the same, I must have a rant with the postmistress about it) gets put on the bike for a month.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

unions/bosses

That's a strange conflation.

Lumen

niceonetom wrote: »

That's a strange conflation.

"The man", if you prefer.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

"The man", if you prefer.

You're dead right. Each post-person should, upon being presented with his or her mailbag, be encouraged to deliver said stuff by whatever means they see fit. Rewards should be offered for cost-effectiveness, environmental sustainability and (most important) panache.

In no time at all a competition-driven market will emerge where posties will strive to outdo each other in their task of providing us with stuff to fill our green bins. Safety and efficiency will be looked after naturally by market forces as those who sacrifice their own safety to shave time off their round are, eh, removed from the job (and gene) pool and those who are too slow starve. Within a year we'll all be served by a rocket-propelled letter-bazooka-armed posse of lateral thinking postmen and the man will learn, finally, to but out. Woo hoo!

Lumen

I was simply suggesting that the person best placed to choose how to move a bunch of shít around might be the person whose job it is to move it.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

I was simply suggesting that the person best placed to choose how to move a bunch of shít around might be the person whose job it is to move it.

And I'm agreeing with you.