Police, canine, action

We’ve teamed up with South Yorkshire force to tackle the threat of dog attacks in one of the most hazardous postcodes in the UK.

When a vicious dog attack forced Donna Taylor to take months off work, she knew she wanted to educate posties and owners about the risks of keeping dangerous breeds.

“I’m not scared of dogs,” says Donna. “In fact, I’m a dog person. My family’s always had pet dogs and our German mastiff cross Freddie’s a big part of my life.”

But her attitude towards other people’s dogs changed forever when Donna, a postie at Halfway Delivery Office, on the outskirts of Sheffield, was attacked during her round in March 2022.

Paws for Posties

East London postie

Bob Armitage has been educating local schoolchildren about the pet threats we face on our rounds. He used our Paws for Posties presentation, created by the Dog Working Group in partnership with the CWU, to deliver the message to pupils aged five to nine.

“It was a great opportunity to give the children an idea about the role of a postie and the hazards we face,” says Bob. “The children were eager to hear about how they could help.”

“I wasn’t even on the customer’s property,” she recalls. “But the owner had absolutely no control over her dog. There was a makeshift fence separating her garden from the road. The dog, a Staffie type, escaped through it, coming straight for me.”

Donna sustained injuries to her arms, wrists, legs and even her face during the terrifying ordeal. She managed to fight off the dog before seeking shelter in the house of another customer, who called an ambulance. Donna was in hospital for three days and was placed under general anaesthetic for surgery.

After a phased return to work, Donna’s now back on her round. Today, the owner of the dog must visit the delivery office to collect her parcels.

There were 1,673 dog attacks on Royal Mail colleagues in 2021-22, an average of 32 a week, with some leading to permanent and disabling injuries.

Dog attacks are the most common causes of injury for our posties and, when it comes to nationwide incidents, South Yorkshire’s ‘S’ postcode – which includes Sheffield and Rotherham – is the most hazardous in the UK.

Get Involved

Scan the QR code to download the Paws for Posties presentation

Now, Royal Mail has teamed up with South Yorkshire Police to create the Dog Working Group.

“The force has set up an online reporting process just for posties,” says Royal Mail’s safety planning manager Nicholas Burns. “They can

Avoid

As we head into the school summer holidays, Royal Mail’s Dog Awareness Week campaign (3-9 July) aims to highlight the heightened risk of children answering the door without considering what may happen if their pet escapes. We’ll also remind all colleagues to AVOID dogs.

AVOID interaction with all dogs. Never pet or feed a dog, enter a garden where a dog is present or take assurance from a customer that their dog won’t bite.

VALUE yourself. Your safety is much more important than delivering an item of mail. So never take unnecessary risks and always shout out to the customer to restrain the dog before opening the door. Use your posting peg where a dog may be behind the door and never put your fingers through a letter box.

OBSERVE your hazard card before your round so you know where dogs live and mark letters with a ‘D’ as a prompt for when you arrive at the address.

INFORM your manager and colleagues of new hazards. Do you carry blank hazard cards with you on delivery so that you can note all details? If you need some, ask your manager.

DEFEND yourself by using delivery equipment, such as your pouch or trolley, to create a physical barrier between you and the dog. Most bites occur on the limbs, so wearing long trousers and sleeves can help protect from serious injuries.

report dog attacks, threats and near misses. The police have committed to investigating, offering advice and taking action where necessary.”

One requirement is the enforced completion of an online training course created with dog charity Blue Cross.

Royal Mail, in partnership with the CWU Bite back campaign, is pushing for changes in the law to reflect the severity of dog attacks and protect our workers. Dogs can be legally destroyed if a worker is seriously injured. In Donna’s case, the owner, a mother of young children, requested that her dog was put down.

“Having survived a dog attack, my advice to fellow posties would be to always listen to your instinct,” says Donna. “If a property doesn’t feel safe, don’t venture onto it.”

Leicester attack

Earlier this year, a postie was attacked by a dog that smashed through a pane of glass in the front door of a Leicester property. The postie was bitten, although not badly injured, and ran through the garden before climbing over a fence to escape.

1,673 DOG ATTACKS ON COLLEAGUES IN 2021-22

30% happened in the garden

8% 23% took place through the letter box

OCCURRED IN THE STREET OR ROAD

Strategy Launch

2022

STEPSTOZEROTARGETS >>>

NET ZERO BY 2040 50 gCO2e

PER PARCEL

(about the same as making a cup of tea with milk)

Largest commercial electric van fleet in UK

5,000 ELECTRIC VANS

NEARLY at more than 150 delivery and collection units, 17 of which are 100% electrified

80 % FEWER EMISSIONS PER MILE THAN DIESEL COUNTERPARTS

80 trucks in Bio-CNG fleet

DELIVERING OUR FUTURE

We’ve taken great strides to decarbonise our operations over the past year. But there’s much more to do to retain our status as the UK’s greenest postal and logistics company (based on publicly reported CO 2 from competitors). Look out for our Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) report later this month.

7 %

We’re already down by against our baseline year, 2020-21

£1 MILLION saved in energy costs

99% renewable electricity consumption

13 %

Gas consumption reduction

Electricity use reduced by around 4%

20% OF OUR DELIVERY ROUTES ARE NOW ZERO EMISSION

More than 50% of our delivery routes wholly or partially on foot

Bio-CNG trucks have saved over 5,000

TONNES OF CO2e

(equivalent to 600million smartphone charges) ONE YEAR ON

Over time, new plastic sleeves for yorks will reduce up to

2,000

TONNES OF CARDBOARD WASTE

Self-sealing mail bags launched to reduce plastic waste from cable ties by up to 170 tonnes