The Royal Mail has been accused of “putting profit ahead of safety” by workers who claim that the company has not provided them with sufficient protection from the coronavirus pandemic.
Postal workers throughout the UK said that there is a shortage masks, gloves and hand sanitisers, adding that social distancing whilst working is “almost impossible”.
Footage has been shown of employees working in close proximity to each other in a sorting office - action which goes against the government’s ‘two-metre distance’ guidelines, which is set out to be in practise at all times during the worldwide crisis.
A supervisor, based at one particular sorting office, said that he felt that workers were put in an unenviable position of “choosing between the job and their health”.
He said: “I am scared that my job will be jeopardised if I refuse to do a task because it will put my life in danger”.
Another postal worker said: “The buildings that we work in are designed for people to be spaced out.
“We are under each other’s skin It’s just completely impossible”.
This came off the back of mounting concerns that crowded working conditions are one of the major contributions of a rising number of postal workers who are forced to take time of sick, or self-isolating.
Since that start of the lockdown, many Royal Mail workers have at sorting offices across the country have walked out in protest over a lack of PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) and concerns about the lack of social distancing being put in place.
A company spokesperson said: “In assessing the risks to our workers and making necessary operational changes to protect our workers, we take professional medical and health and safety advice on a daily basis.
“We have already made a series of adjustments to our parcel-handling procedures to protect our colleagues and our customers”.
