BT SECURITY SCREW-UP

Firstly they have taken a stance of preventing unlawful access to BT sites through open windows and doors. This has seen requests on the one hand for staff to close windows and doors on their areas of work before vacating them at the end of the working day, which does not necessarily cause an issue. However, in some areas, particularly in frame areas, some windows are being totally screwed shut where there are no external grills. This could cause health, safety and environment issues. Even in a poor summer, temperatures climb and now there is often no opportunity to ventilate the area.

This issue must be risk assessed by local management. If the temperatures in the workplace are unbearable management should be looking to decrease the temperature in the area with the use of chilling/air conditioning equipment in the first instance. At a minimum they should be allowing staff breaks away from the work area to cool down. Openreach have set a maximum temperature themselves of 27 degrees Centigrade. However the World Health Organisation say the “thermal comfort zone” is between 18 & 24 degrees C. Thermometers should be made available so that this can be checked, a requirement of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) 1992 - Regulation 7.

Secondly there has been security lock down at all BT sites between 7.00pm and 6.00am. To get access to any building that has the OBASS system to gain access you need to call BT Alarm Monitoring Centre on 0800 328 0880. This could mean waiting outside the site for a period in time in areas that could be putting an individual's health and safety at risk, particularly in areas that may already be listed as 2 person working areas or become so in the hours of darkness, which is now increasing on a daily basis up until December.

We have tried to address both these issues with BT over recent weeks. BT Security are insistent that they reduce the threat of equipment theft, an issue that they have developed themselves over a period in time by, in particular, not controlling the provision of access control cards to non-BT employees.

We therefore advise all members being put in this position in the out-of-hours period to carry out their own risk assessment. If there is any delay in accessing a site and you feel there is a threat to your health and safety, then we would suggest you leave the area. If that means forwarding a job back to the control, then so be it. Perhaps that might make BT think again.

Any incident of physical or verbal abuse should be reported to BT Accident & Incident Reporting Group on 0800 671345 as “Violence to Staff”, in addition to BT Security help desk on 0800 321999 if there are any thefts or damage to property or equipment.

DON'T LET BT PUT YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY UNDER UNNECESSARY AND UNACCEPTABLE RISK!