Australia Post is calling on people to keep an eye out for posties on the roads to help keep them safe during the busy Christmas delivery period.
Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Australia Post, Paul Graham said the organisation had also rolled out new technology as an added safety measure for processing teams and delivery drivers.
Mr Graham said telematics systems were being installed across all of Australia Post’s fleet of electric delivery vehicles (eDVs), vans and trucks to help identify hazards, educate drivers and reduce risks on the road.
“As well as video footage, sensors help provide further safety analysis while vehicles also have a duress button which pinpoints the location of the driver in order to provide assistance in the case of an emergency or serious incident,” Mr Graham said.
“While any technological advancement in safety is welcomed, there is always a role for people to play in keeping posties safe, by ensuring their dogs are secured on their properties and by looking out for Australia Post eDVs, motorcycles and bikes in their neighbourhood,” he said.
“We want all of our people arriving home safely at the end of their day.”
Mr Graham said the new technology had provided insights into what staff faced on the roads and it would be crucial in reducing serious incidents.
“While we’re doing everything we can to keep our people safe, we’d urge Australians to also keep an eye out for their local postie, because they’ll be out there delivering more than ever as we ramp up to Christmas,” he said.
“In Australia Post’s facilities, leading-edge local Smart Badge technology is being introduced to help manage COVID-19 contact tracing and social distancing requirements, making identification of close contacts faster and more accurate.”
He said more than 10,000 of Australia Post’s people had been forced to isolate during the pandemic.
Mr Graham said the wearable technology provided instant contact tracing, social distancing alerts and real-time data to manage site capacity, and would be vital to help keep staff processing and delivering for Christmas.
