Coronavirus update: new delivery procedures

March 11, 2020

As at today, over 100 cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed, in Australia.

We wrote to you last week where we explained we had urged Australia Post to consider enhanced delivery procedures in order to minimise the risk of members being exposed to, and spreading of, the virus.

We therefore welcome new procedures implemented by Australia Post, which by now should have been communicated to employees across the country.

Those new procedures have been reproduced below, for your convenience.

Making a delivery at an address to reduce exposure

To minimise the risk of contracting or spreading Coronavirus virus, workers being required to make a deliveries to customer’s doors should implement the following process and ask the following questions:

After ringing doorbell/knocking on door to get customer’s attention, step back from the door to a distance of approximately 2m (2 large steps)

Ask the person answering the door:
1. Are you unwell and if so, have you been or do you have any reason to suspect that you’ve been exposed to someone diagnosed with or suspected to have the Coronavirus
2. Are you in self-isolation due to having had contact with someone with suspected or diagnosed Coronavirus or travelled through mainland China, Iran and Republic of Korea
If the customer says “Yes” to either of these questions, advise the customer to:
1. Stay where they are and do not exit
2. I am not going to ask you to sign for this item, I will advise my manager that you suspect that you’ve been exposed to someone diagnosed with or suspected to have Coronavirus or are in self-isolation due to having had contact with someone with suspected or diagnosed Coronavirus or have travelled through mainland China, Iran and Republic of Korea and are unable to sign for this delivery
3. I am going to place your parcel on the ground where I am standing and leave
4. Please only collect your parcel once I have left
5. Return to vehicle, wash hands with soap and water or with sanitising gel at first available opportunity
6. Report to manager on return to base and log incident into OneSafe

We recognise that some customers may not understand why we’re doing this.

If a customer is angry or disappointed at this please advise:

“I understand your frustrations and I know this is disappointing in relation to this. Please understand that Australia Post has a duty of care to the community and to employees to make sure our people, our customers and the community are safe and we don’t want to contribute to the issue.”

General Information

IMPORTANT

If you suspect you may have come in to contact with a confirmed case, please do not attend your doctor’s practice, unannounced. Call your local general practice to receive instructions on what to do next.

As a reminder, below you will find some general information your Union has shared with you previously, related to Coronavirus and working within mail handling.

It is recommended that all members become familiar with this basic information.

What is Novel Coronavirus?

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new coronavirus primarily affecting people who have recently been in mainland China and/or Iran, or had contact with sick people from mainland China and/or Iran. It’s likely that the coronavirus originally came from an animal, and there is now evidence that it can spread from person-to-person.

Symptoms include (but are not limited to) fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue and shortness of breath. Shortness of breath is a sign of possible pneumonia that requires prompt medical attention.

The Australian Government Department of Health considers the industrial risk to border staff, including those working in mail and processing, to be low.

Can the virus be contracted through mail handling?

Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly said that the coronavirus was being spread by “droplets” and it was not an airborne disease like measles. They are spread when people cough or sneeze but they rapidly die once they hit a surface. He said someone would have to be in a face-to-face conversation with someone who has coronavirus for at least 15 minutes to be at risk of infection.

It can also be spread via contaminated surfaces if someone touches their nose or mouth after touching a surface that has been coughed or sneezed on by an infected person.

But he said you could not get the disease from parcels and passing someone was “virtually totally safe”.

Should I be wearing personal protective equipment (PPE)?

The Australian Government Department of Health advises that those working in cargo and mail, processing areas and other areas of air and sea ports are not considered to be at a high risk and that PPE in the form of gloves, gowns, eye protection or face shields is not considered necessary when performing these roles.

However, frequent hand-washing (including the proper use of alcohol-based sanitisers) and cough etiquette should still be practiced in this setting.

If a member elects to wear disposable gloves, or other PPE items, regular hand hygiene is still required and care must be taken to avoid breaching the glove material.

A face-mask will not protect you against becoming infected. While the use of face-masks can help to prevent transmission of disease from infected patients to others, face masks are not currently recommended for use by healthy members of the public for the prevention of infections like novel coronavirus.

How is spread prevented?

Practising good hand hygiene and sneeze/cough hygiene is the best defence:

Wash your hands often with soap and water, or alcohol-based hand gel, before and after eating as well as after attending the toilet;
Cough and sneeze into your elbow; and
Do not attend work when sick. Avail of your sick leave, see your doctor and avoid contact with others.

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