Introduction

Health and Safety (H&S) refers to policies and procedures that protect employees and ensure safe working conditions. H&S has been a core Focus Area of the SMMS since 2019. Through measuring posts’ performance, IPC is actively contributing to the aims of UN SDG 8 – ‘Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.’ Within the broader aims of UN SDG 8.

For participants, particular areas of focus include manual handling/loading; road and vehicle safety; slips, trips and falls; mental health and stress; and forklift safety. These are addressed through mechanisms such as safety awareness training; promotion of health topics; grievance reporting systems and joint management-worker H&S committees.

Emerging trends

Employee safety and wellbeing has always been a top priority for the postal sector, given the nature of our work. The growth of e-commerce, safety technology developments, and the use of alternative fuel/ automated vehicles are all emerging trends that have an important bearing on the health and safety of the postal workforce. As ever the postal sector faces a variety of challenges, but SMMS participants continue to show resilience and adaptability in a rapidly changing world.  

Results

• H&S was the best performing focus areas within the 2023 Sustainability Management Proficiency (SMP) questionnaire, highlighting the importance of this issue to the group. 
• Scoring 77.8% collectively, H&S ranked highest amongst all focus areas, over seven percentage points ahead of the overall SMP group score of 70.6%. A score of 77.8% reflects that posts have good H&S management proficiency and that further improvement across the posts will be important in the upcoming years.
• Participants scored highest in questions related to Measurement & Evaluation and Embedding, demonstrating their commitment to tracking performance, implementing policy and engaging stakeholders in this crucial area. 
• Compared to 2022, Disclosure and Reporting showed the biggest improvement, increasing by 10.5 percentage points. Although it is still the lowest scoring pillar in this Focus Area, IPC encourages posts to continue sharing best practices and their expert knowledge with other operators in order to drive improvements.
  
   

Highlights of the group’s performance in 2023 include:

• 25 posts have a strategic focus on mental health and/or stress 
• 24 posts have implemented management processes designed to mitigate H&S risks
• 25 posts have defined responsibility for H&S at a board/executive level
• 25 posts collect data on H&S aspects including: dog attacks, slips, trips/falls, and mental health/stress
  
   

Quantitative metrics for H&S are not reported under the SMMS programme, as these are covered by other IPC reporting initiatives including the IPC Global Monitor.