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Bikemagic’s Mike Davis says he’s in favour of helmets in general, but against compulsion:
"If an employer the size of Royal Mail succeeds in making its workers wear helmets, it’s only a matter of time before some other influential body gets the same idea. Like, say, the Government."
As yet there’s no legal requirement to wear helmets while cycling and the Health and Safety Executive – which administers safety regs at the ‘workplace’ – doesn’t stipulate helmet wearing for workers who cycle as part of their jobs.
But the loss-making Royal Mail, which recently said it was dropping eco-friendly ‘rail trains’ in favour of more juggerauts, is aiming to introduce helmet compulsion by the end of the year, a move that is alienating many pedalling posties.
The argument that the Royal Mail is covering itself should any posties fall from their bikes, injure their heads and then sue because they weren’t made to wear helmets is an obvious one but as van-driving postal workers do not need to wear full-face rally helmets or flame-proof suits, it’s probably spurious.
A public meeting to discuss the helmets-on-posties issue has been arranged by the Yorkshire and Humber DA of CTC for Friday 5th September at the Railway Institute in York, 6.30pm (south of York railway station approx. 200m, over bridge first building on right – main hall top floor).
York has the largest number of pedalling posties in the UK.
BBS posters on Bikemagic are overwhelmingly in favour of posties wearing helmets, see:
http://www.bikemagic.com/…/article.asp?UAN=3445&SP=&v=1
Over at Singletrackworld, the views are more divided, and many are thought-provoking, cerebral even:
