Wellingborough postal worker 'scared witless' by lack of social distancing and sanitising measures at Royal Mail depot

Social distancing and measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at Wellingborough's Royal Mail delivery office have not improved, according to a worker's relative.

Wishing to remain anonymous to protect their parent, the concerned child of the postal worker at the depot collections, delivery and sorting office has said that they are terrified that their parent may come into contact with the disease.

As reported by the Northants Telegraph the Royal Mail delivery office in Midland Road had been hit by an outbreak of coronavirus leaving at least two workers in hospital, according to colleagues.

Royal Mail previously said they had taken action to clean the building, increased daily cleaning levels and revised ways of working, but workers say they still don't feel safe.

The concerned relative said: "My parent is scared witless because it's so close to home. My parent is normally upbeat and chirpy but nobody gives a stuff.

"They brush past - there's no respect for social distancing. It just doesn't exist and they just carry on as normal."

One of the main concerns for the family is the use of shared vehicles by multiple members of staff.

The concerned relative said: "My parent uses a van but dirty coffee cups were left in it. The cleaners are not told to wipe the vans."

Another issue is what they describe as a lack of communication to staff apart from one announcement over the loudspeaker.

The concerned relative said: "There's been nothing made clear about safety in the workplace. The sorting office is a shambles. They've not had a briefing. There's no signs. The one announcement over the tannoy was about how much they had spent on PPE.

"There has been a ban on over-time so if they can't finish their rounds the letters don't get delivered. There is a massive backlog - the number of Father's Day cards that didn't get delivered on time it's awful."

A spokesman for Wellingborough Council said: "The Borough Council of Wellingborough’s Health Protection Team has received a complaint in relation to Covid-19 at the Royal Mail Sorting depot in Wellingborough and are working with the business and public health colleagues to investigate and ensure all necessary control measures are in place."

Royal Mail has been contacted for comment

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