CWU Annual Conference Highlights Health and Safety Concerns

As CWU Branches gear up for the trip to Bournemouth this weekend, attending the Communications Workers Union annual conference, health and safety issues are foremost in the mind of dozens of USR's attending as delegates once again this year.

All sections of the Union, Postal, Clerical, and Engineering have major health and safety policy proposals on the agenda.

Issues such as bullying and harassment, work related cancers, stress, and the role of external occupational health organisations used by the main employers, BT and Royal Mail, are just some of the areas of concern being debated next week.

As always, NW BTU Health & Safety Co-ord members are scheduled to play their part and play a major role in formulating the Union's health & safety policies for 2009 and beyond.

Liverpool District Clerical have raised their concerns over British Telecom's stress management tool and the current exclusion of Agency workers from using this tool. In prop 7 due to be debated on Tuesday at the Telecomms and Financial Services Conference, they call upon the executive, " .... to

negotiate the implementation of a Stress Management Tool for agency employees working on the BT Contract that is similar in principle to the BT STREAM test.

The environment is once again a subject for debate with Liverpool District Clerical suggesting that BT should do more to ensure BT CWU members are more aware of how to reduce their environmental impact. Prop 11 instructs the T&FS Executive ".. to instigate a national campaign....." It adds that it should utilise, "..... the existing Regional Health & Safety structure in a similar vein to the Workfit Campaign within BT and can involve appropriate external organisations and commercial bodies."

Concerns over the use of ladders and a pole belt and the length of time work at the top of a pole is taking and the risk to the health and safety of BT engineers, are raised by Central & West Lancs Branch in prop 9. The terms of the prop instruct the T&FS Executive, ".....to negotiate across all lines of business in BT to review current policies and replace with a robust procedure that includes a gradual replacement of the current climbing system.

Postal members of the CWU have raised their concern over the link between breast cancer and shift working. Newcastle Amal Branch's prop calls for the Postal Executive "to secure an agreement with all Royal Mail Group Business units to provide a programme of regular breast screening to all women who work nightshift". Prop 41 is due to be debated at the Postal Industry Conference on Tuesday 9th June.

Meanwhile back in the North West, Merseyside Amal Branch expresses concern over the way in which Royal mail are implementing their own bullying and harassment policy. In prop 58 to be debated Wednesday, the Branch accuses Royal Mail managers of misusing its policy by implementing it unfairly and with a lack of independent investigations into such cases. Prop 58 states: "Therefore Conference agrees as a matter of urgency to renegotiate the
Bullying & Harassment Procedure, highlighting the deficiencies above that are having a dramatic effect on our members." A similar prop from the NW Divisional Committee and scheduled as Prop 62 also deals with the same issue.

The Health & Safety props within the Conference agendas can be downloaded from the E-Library Database

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