DH bitten by dog whilst posting parcel

[Againstthegrainn]

DH was posting a parcel through the letterbox when he was bitten badly on 2 fingers.

Nobody was home. Customers are asked to tick the box that says they have a dog/cat however this customer did not. There was no sign up saying there is a dog either. There was no barking which is why DH proceeded to post, usually if he hears barking he will not put his hand anywhere near the letterbox

He had to leave work early and get to Urgent Care as it was bleeding a lot and also needs the Tetanus shot.

When he reported this to his manager, he was told they'll just write to the customer and request that they tick the box that says they have a pet.

I would hope that once the owners find out what happened, they'd take measures to avoid this happening again i.e. cage/box to drop parcels/leaflets/letters into but if this does happen again, is there anything else that can be done? Or not really as the dog is in their own home? Do postmen/delivery drivers just have to accept they might get bitten?

It has happened to dh's colleagues and one of them ended up leaving the job after a dog ran out the house and chased him down the street. It's just unfair when people are trying to do their jobs

This safety flash from the Communications Union is interesting - https://www.cwu.org/ltb/ltb-506-21-royal-mail-group-she-safety-flash-fy21-016-dog-bites-through-the-letter-box-finger-bitten-off/

I'm sorry this happened to your DH, but unfortunately it can happen when you stick your fingers through someone's letter box. Many decades ago when I was a paper girl I had similar with a dog that nipped my fingers - I also cut myself on a sharp bit of a letter box. Lesson learned the (very) hard way on my part.

Letterboxes are a pain in the arse when they have draught excluders. That said doesn’t he have a postie peg? Like a plastic clip. When I worked for the council you are told never put your hand into letterbox as part of health and safety training

I'm not sure what the rules are on risk assessments or best gestures but has he had any training by his employer? If not then you could consider an employer's liability insurance claim for compensation. They may tell you it is a private criminal matter and then you have to pursue the residents. There will be some more advice online. A no win no fee solicitor may take it on although they can be a bit incompetent and you will lose plenty of any compensation to them. I work in insurance claims, and people claim for a lot less than this in injury terms.

My husbands a postie. They have a house with a cat that attacks everyone who goes near the letter box. And rips everything posted through to shreds. They have written to the occupiers and said until they can contain their animal they won't be able to deliver any post to them. The managers put this into place at the depot. Is this something your husband can speak to his manager about?

My last cat was pretty feral and would savage fingers through the letterbox so I had a warning notice on the door and a hand shaped back scratcher hanging outside so the postman could deliver my letters.
They can refuse to deliver if there is a dangerous animal.
My current cat would lick him to death.

My friend was walking a couple of days ago and a dog came around the corner - on a lead - and bit her on the stomach. She was in too much shock to get the owner's name. He did all the 'usually he is friendly, first time it has happened talk' but I am pretty confident he won't be doing anything about it like putting on a muzzle.

Posties will use a pen where necessary - most door letterboxes have an inside flap these days which protects fingers if they are inserted

My daughter was bitten by a dog on her first day delivering for Amazon. She had been warned by her colleague about the dog but it it wasn’t in the garden when she entered, and just came running up. Fortunately it only got her trousers and she is good with dogs so managed to calm it down so it didn’t try again. There seemed to be no suggestion of any action by Amazon to prevent future issues.

When we noticed that my ( now elderly) dog was a taking an interest in the post we put on a basket. He then attacked the post in the basket but at least the postman was safe.
When we later decided to replace the front door we got an outside box, which was a much better option for us.

Huh? The dog was inside the house. OP’s husband should not have put his fingers through the letter box

Well, obviously...🙄

Agree with this. If yo can't control your pet and put posties art risk the you should have to collect your post from the depot.

The bloke shoved his hand through the letter box...dog was inside its own house.

Nothing at all to do with it not being controlled.

He should use a posting peg. Get him to speak to his union rep.

I think a pair of hinged tongs might give him more dexterity.

Thanks all, some great advice and suggestions here. Appreciate everyone's replies 😀 sorry to hear others have also had similar happen to them. Going forward dh will use something to push parcels but mainly cards through as those are the difficult ones as they bend! Parcels can of course be pushed from the back which I wish dh did today!

As I put in my earlier post, potential harm from dogs must surely be a known risk to this employer. So something to be assessed and managed to reduce the risk to as low as reasonably possible. Training and awareness raising ( including by things like safety “flashes”, notices or whatever, are easy ways to minimise the risk. I am curious if the husband received appropriate training and briefing when he started.

There's definitely an option to bring a case here. Almost certainly they'll be covered on home insurance (my home insurance covers everything except banned breeds - I checked after our neighbour's insurance paid out after their dog bit a delivery driver).

However, there's a cost to everyone if lots of people are using home insurance to cover ever more of these incidents. Negligence from delivery companies towards employees (and even calling them "freelance" so there's seemingly no duty of care whatsoever) is a growing problem which is currently being covered through home insurance. We're all paying for this.

DH was a seasonal postie when he was a student, he got bitten once had to do an incident form and got some kind of additional payment from work, it wasn't even bad! He used to joke about waggling his fingers through letterboxes to get another payment.
He needs to name sure his manager has followed process, best bet is to speak to his union rep

I was a postie & a stint as a manager for RM. The office manager should be writing to the occupants detailing what has happened. Usually all deliveries were stopped until contact had been made. In most cases the manager would visit the address. Depending on incident & injury it used to be advised to fit an external box to eliminate this risk or a cage otherwise delivery may be refused. It’s strongly advised never to place fingers through letterbox so RM may argue this point. Ideally if in the CWU get in touch & office rep should take it up. I hope he’s ok, it’s a horrible thing to happen & it hurts a lot. I still have a scar on my leg from a leg bite 18 years ago & knew posties that list ends of fingers.

If I'm receiving parcels from Royal Mail on the tracking page there is info and advise for customers with dogs.

My father in law was a postman for 40 years and was bitten a few times! I know that his local office did take it seriously - they refused to deliver to one address with a dog that was repeatedly aggressive.i would get him to contact his union for advice - hope he's ok. I know my father in law had stitches on a couple of occasions.

My much loved and missed Bumbledog went through the window after the post lady.. Was so embarassing as we know her really well.

We have a huge bay window.In the sitting room My friend was sitting having a coffee in there with me. I saw the plady coming so went to go out into the hall to go into the garden to save her walking to the door. The next thing I heard was my friend saying "OH MY GOD HE'S GONE THROUGH THE F.. NG WINDOW!!"
I rushed back in to see Bumble looking very surprised and the post lady leaving in a hurry. He'd taken a flying leap into the bay window slid across and put his paw through a window pane...!! Once I made sure he was OK (not a scratch on him!) I flew down the road after the pl. She was fine and wanted to make sure Bumble was okay bless her. I made a promise that we would have a letter box on the gate by the next morning which we did.

i mean i guess it might have been another part of his anatomy 😂