Dave Joyce, CWU Dave Joyce National Health, Safety & Environment Officer has issued full details plus several attachments in his latest letter to branches regarding Royal Mail Group’s Fire Safety Week taking place throughout the country starting Monday 1st June.
LTB351/15 gives some background and then goes on to give a full rundown of the week:
The Week is being deployed this year with the full support of the CWU and will therefore have the full involvement of Area and Workplace Safety Representatives who should now be proactively making contact with PiCs (Person in Charge) and Area Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Advisors to plan support and involvement during the week.
This is particularly important in respect of Day 3, Wednesday 3rd June when joint Royal Mail/CWU Fire Safety Tours/Inspections will be carried out. Please ensure all ASRs and WSRs are involved - don't wait for an invitation of phone call - involvement is agreed - please make arrangements asap. CWU Safety Reps are entitled to be involved, consulted and to input in Fire Evacuation Plans, Fire Drills, Fire Risk Assessment Reviews. CWU support has been welcomed by the Royal Mail National Fire Safety Manager, so please make it happen locally.
The purpose of Fire Safety Week is to raise or keep fire safety in focus and ensure fire safety is understood and supported throughout Royal Mail Group. It is a one week, five day, fire safety program of tasks and activities. All the tasks are either a requirement of fire safety regulations or Royal Mail's own safety standards and the responsibility of the PiC. Documentation is to be refreshed / updated and amended to reflect recent changes in the workplace.
The objective is to, Improve fire safety compliance, raise fire safety awareness and protect the workforce and property.The program has been set out to raise the awareness of fire safety for both managers and general employees, provide a focused time for managers to review their fire safety and ensure compliance requirements are met. Each day’s activity has been designed to flow through to the next, involving all building users and especially those with a fire safety responsibility.
Some activities may have already recently been covered by the PiC and therefore the week should be used as an opportunity to review current site fire safety and raise awareness in general. Work time learning should be used to ensure building users understand their duties and responsibilities toward fire safety, for example: understand emergency evacuation procedures or where unacceptable working practices have been identified. Tasks already undertaken may only require a brief update and communication across the building users. The week ends with the launch of a new fire safety e-learning product for PiCs and FPOs.
The LTB in full can be downloaded here
Source: CWU
