Why low letter boxes pose a hazard for posties – Yorkshire Post Letters

DAVID H Rhodes’s (The Yorkshire Post, January 8) experience of delivering leaflets gave him a taste of the hazards faced by posties due to ankle-height letter boxes.

The CWU has been campaigning about this and MP Vicky Ford brought the Low-Level Letter Boxes (Prohibition) Bill to Parliament in 2019. As a result, the Building Regulations Advisory Committee undertook to include low-level letter boxes in a review of building regulations for new developments. It was recommended that the minimum height for letter boxes should be 70cm (2ft 3in).

Back injury is the primary cause of sickness in Royal Mail, with nearly 17,000 cases of back-related absences in 2018.

Mrs Ford told Parliament that “having to bend or stoop to deliver mail to low letter boxes is a significant factor…also associated with increased likelihood of injury from dogs or cats… low-level letter boxes are more difficult to see, resulting in more hand injuries and more damage to mail, especially packages.

“Post that has been delivered into a low-level letter box is also easier for thieves to steal”.

So when choosing your new front door, spare a thought for the postie, the paper boy and the security of your mail!