LTB 127/25 - RMG/CWU National Dog Awareness Week (DAW) – 30th June to 6th July 2025
- Angela Wright CWU Branch Communications Officer
- Jul 1
- 7 min read
No: 127/25
Dear Colleague,
RMG/CWU National Dog Awareness Week (DAW) – 30th June to 6th July 2025
This week will see the launch of the Royal Mail Group/CWU National Dog Awareness Week (DAW), which is the joint annual focal point where important messages are communicated to emphasise the ongoing and sadly growing safety risk of dog attacks on CWU members within Royal Mail and Parcelforce.
The first national DAW was held back in 2012, with the key objectives to remind the public to be aware of their legal and moral responsibilities to control their dogs and prevent dog attacks on postal workers who are providing them with a public service. It also serves as a good opportunity to remind members who perform deliveries and collections in both Royal Mail and Parcelforce to be vigilant, keep safe and take no risks.
At the time of this LTB, it can be reported that RMG have confirmed a total of 2,197 attacks by dogs on postal workers in the year ending 31st March 2025. A very slight reduction from the 2,206 reported in the year ending 2024.
RMG/CWU DAW Message to Royal Mail & Parcelforce Customers:
As outlined above, a key objective of Dog Awareness Week is to remind the public to be aware of their legal and moral responsibilities to control their dogs and prevent dog attacks on postal workers. It is again noteworthy to recall that it was only following a successful campaign by the CWU to ensure that the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 and its provisions regarding ‘a dog being dangerously out of control’ was extended to include both public and private places thereby allowing for irresponsible dog owners to be prosecuted under the Act.
Dog owners need to understand the often-devastating impact of dog attacks and take proper measures to ensure their pets pose no threat to delivery postal workers through responsible dog ownership.
The public also needs to be aware that if their dog attacks a postal worker, they will be prosecuted either by the Police, Local Authority or by Royal Mail Group via a private prosecution under the agreement between RMG and the CWU.
RMG/CWU DAW Headline activities 2025
Listed here is a summary of the week’s activities: –
DAW 2025 Posters (For Customers)
All Royal Mail/Parcelforce sites will have received (4 copies) of the DAW external poster to be displayed at customer-facing points (versions for England, Scotland and Wales).
The poster aims to ask customers to take some simple steps to avoid dog attacks. This includes never opening the door when a dog is not secured and putting in place a letter cage or external letterbox.
The poster also advises customers that mail deliveries can be suspended if a safe delivery point is not provided and that following changes to the Dangerous Dog Act, owners and/or a person in charge of a dog can be prosecuted if that dog attacks anyone.
DAW 2025 Poster (Internal)
All Royal Mail/Parcelforce sites will also have received (2 copies) of an internal AVOID Poster for display (versions for England, Scotland and Wales).
The internal poster aims to emphasise the key Dog Attack AVOID principles of:
Check if it is not safe, don’t enter.
Step back from the door.
If there is a dog behind the door call to the customer to put the dog away.
Never put fingers through a letterbox.
Attached is a Zip File of these customer and internal posters for DAW 2025 alongside a note confirming that the posters are to be displayed.
Blue Cross Charity
In line with DAW 2025, an updated poster has been published to highlight the ongoing work with the Blue Cross charity in terms of continuing to raise awareness of the steps dog owners can take to keep delivery workers safe via a free Zoom webinar.
The posters will be made available for internal use and for all Royal Mail/Parcelforce sites to print out and display. It will be further promoted by RMG through its external webpage for customers.
A copy of this 2025 joint Blue Cross poster is attached.
RMG WTLL Briefings
Also attached is a copy of the two RMG WTLL Briefings to be issued this week. As in previous years, one is designed for non-operational delivery roles and another for all those who work within Delivery, Collection and Parcelforce.
This year’s WTLL Briefing for Deliveries, Collections and Parcelforce also invites these employees to complete a short anonymous survey which has been developed by Blue Cross to help establish a ‘better understanding of Postal Worker attitudes and beliefs around dogs’, and to help them provide Royal Mail and the CWU with further and tailored support going forward.
To access this survey by Blue Cross, please use the following link:
CWU Press Statement
In line with Dog Awareness Week, the union has issued a Press Statement, which is attached. This Press Statement aims to set out the simple message to the public that dog attacks remain a major safety concern, as statistics show that a third of all dog attacks are on postal workers.
The Press Statement also highlights that 30,000 postal workers have been attacked by dogs in the last decade with approximately 1000 having had a finger or part of a finger bitten off through a letterbox.
Additionally, the union is clear that it wants to see irresponsible dog owners who fail to control and secure their animals and who allow dog attacks on postal workers prosecuted and handed a sentence that fits the crime.
Other DAW Messages
A message will be issued via the Royal Mail PDA to all staff advising that over 400 injuries were sustained to fingers last year when pushing mail through the letterbox and reminding all employees not to put their fingers through any letterbox and use the posting peg. Messages will be repeated daily on the PDA outlining the meaning of AVOID.
RMtv will cover DAW, in particular, the subject of ‘responsible dog ownership and what we can do to avoid attacks.’ This will also include a slot from some CWU ASRs and Professor Carri Westgarth from Liverpool University.
RMG will send out messages to customers about responsible dog ownership through the company’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds.
Alongside these attachments is the ‘Paws for thought’ posters, which were developed with the NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council) back in 2023/2024 and which seeks to offer a more hard-hitting message to the public.
In setting out the above, it is also relevant to highlight current measures in place within Royal Mail to raise awareness with the public.
Royal Mail have launched a new enhancement to the RM App (which went live on 3rd April), reminding customers to secure their dog before the delivery arrives. This includes two separate pop-up messages for the customer when an item is scanned as “Ready for Delivery” and a further message when a user first opens the RM App.
Additionally, the Customer Postcards remain available for Delivery units to order throughout the year and which can be sent to customers reminding them of the steps they can take to provide a safe delivery point. The card has been dual-purpose so customers can also display it in their window, advising anyone delivering to their address that they have a dog and may take a minute to answer the door whilst they secure it away. These cards have also been translated into Welsh.
More details on these Customer Postcards can be found in LTB 030/25, issued on the 14th February.
RMG/CWU DAW Message to Postal Workers:
We are reminding all individuals who perform deliveries and collections across Royal Mail and Parcelforce of the need to remain vigilant, cautious, keep safe and take no risks:
Be vigilant, keep safe, take no risks and protect yourself at all times.
Always err on the side of caution.
Don’t enter properties where dogs are running loose.
Don’t put fingers through the letterbox (use your Posting Peg).
Don’t assume a dog won’t bite, as any dog can be aggressive.
Don’t accept an owner’s word that their dog will not bite.
Look for the presence of dogs. Signs on gates, walls and windows, cages in vehicles, toys in gardens.
Rattle the gate to warn a potential dog of your presence.
When calling with an item, ask the customer to put their dog away and step well back from the doorstep to maintain a safe distance. If the customer needs to leave the doorstep to fetch ID or another item, politely ask them to close the door/secure the dog.
Also:-
Report all dog attack incidents and near misses.
Remember to report significant dog hazards and inform the manager of any increase in risk/changes. This needs to be captured on ORA (Offsite Risk Assessment).
Mark your frame with a yellow dot where there is a significant dog hazard. Remove any yellow dots on frames no longer appropriate (e.g. the dog no longer resides there).
Put ‘D’ on the envelope and parcels to remind yourself of known dog hazards when you are out on your route.
Message to Safety Reps:
As part of the Royal Mail Group/CWU National Dog Awareness Week, the support and assistance from WSR and ASRs would be welcomed, including:
Ensure that sites have displayed all of the Dog Awareness posters and are sending out external posters/leaflets to vets, schools, local community centres and parish councils etc.
Support Unit Manager delivering Dog WTLLs and SHE Huddles, not just during DAW but all year round.
Visit workplaces – organise a plan of visits ongoing throughout the year, focusing on dog risks and controls.
Carry out Inspections/Investigations following dog related incidents.
Talk to members about the threat of dog attacks.
Introduce yourself to new starters in the unit, typically they will be most at risk, so speak to them about the principles of AVOID and the dangers posed by dog attacks.
The CWU remains fully committed to promoting National Dog Awareness Week both within the workplace and with the public and we would ask that this LTB and its details are shared widely and are used by Branches, Safety Reps and our Safety Forums to further support the work on seeking to reduce dog attacks and incidents during this week and beyond.
Further updates on DAW 2025 will be issued in due course.
Any enquiries to this LTB should be referred to the DGS(P) Department.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Comentarios