Why posties are afraid to work in dark
IF YOU think writing Christmas cards is a pain, spare a thought for the poor postie who delivers them.
And forget snappy dogs and wrong addresses – it’s the early dark evenings which have got some reaching for the health and safety guidelines.
During what is supposed to be the season of goodwill, hardworking posties have taken to writing on Royal Mail Chat, a message board for employees and customers, to air their twilight grievances.
One worker, under the name of polar bear, complains of being asked to work from 1pm until 8pm this year.
“After a week of doing it I’ve realised how difficult it is and I don’t like finishing at this time,” the postie says.
“When it gets dark, it’s impossible to see door numbers and I’m constantly getting out the van and going up to a door to see a number.
“It’s horrendous. Also, it’s difficult to read the addresses on the parcels. It takes ages. Is this against health and safety?”
Others suggest that working in the dark is hazardous because you can’t see kerbs or doorsteps.
Another employee moans about working out of daylight hours. “I did this a couple of years ago,” the post reads. “Absolutely hated it, working in the dark is tough and dangerous. What made it worse was you load the van up all in order and when you got round the first corner, you can hear them all go all over the place.
“Then you had to look for them in the back of a dark van...arrrghh.”
But other more savvy posties were quick to point out that working in the dark is not a health and safety issue and suggested their colleagues buy a cheap torch instead.
Postie “daveyeff ” said: “We did it last year, got a couple of torches from the pound shop. I tripped over in the dark because of a step I didn’t see in the blackness… hence the torches. But they should provide these if they expect you to work in the dark.”
During December some 110,000 posties deliver around 150 million parcels. The Royal Mail reassured their staff about working at night.
A spokesman said: “Over the festive period, our 110,000 postmen and women go the extra mile to deliver Christmas across the UK.
“At this time of year, as the daytime is shorter and we are delivering Christmas parcels to many people, there may be times when some deliveries take place in poor light or in the dark.
“The safety of our postmen and women while out on deliveries is of paramount importance to us.
“Torches are made available for usage in areas of poor lighting, if required.”
Research shows that the most Christmas cards sent in the UK are from Edinburgh, with each person posting an average of 18 greetings.
But the folk of Manchester only send an average of 11 cards each.