Symbol Royal Mail employees use to flag homes with dangerous dogs

While you might be eagerly awaiting a knock on the door from Royal Mail, their employees might be dreading another visit to your house. Royal Mail has announced there were 1,673 dog attacks reported on its staff last year, an average of 32 per week across the UK, with some leading to permanent and disabling injuries.

The postal service has responded by flagging potentially dangerous homes on their drivers' handheld devices to alert the user that a dog is present at the property. The alert system, which is shown by a dog symbol registered at the address, is being deployed across devices used by all Royal Mail posties over the coming months.

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Sheffield was the city that had the most incidents reported during the year to March 31 2022 (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It is hoped it will help their employees avoid injury by informing them about a possible threat on the other side of the door - and it is especially useful to those unfamiliar with certain postal rounds.

Philip Graham, Royal Mail interim director of safety, health, wellbeing and sustainability said: "We know the number of attacks rises during the school holidays and in the summer months when parents and children are at home and dogs are sometimes allowed unsupervised in the garden or out onto the streets without restraints – so while we want our customers to enjoy being outside with their pets, we also want to ask them to consider the danger unsupervised dogs pose to our colleagues."

Sheffield was the city that had the most incidents reported during the year to March 31 2022, with 51 postmen or women suffering dog attacks, closely followed by Belfast, with 50 attacks. Tunbridge Wells was in third place with 44 attacks on Royal Mail colleagues.

There were 387 injuries suffered through the letterbox - accounting for 23 per cent of attacks on postal workers.

Letterbox attacks were the subject of a 2020 High Court ruling that stated dog owners (or those in care of a dog) can be prosecuted if their pets have free access to the letterbox and cause injury to any delivery operative, whether the owner is at home or not.

Their handheld devises will alert them to whether there's a dog in the property (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In May 2017, a Royal Mail postman lost the tip of his finger while delivering to a customer’s address.

In October 2021 the dog owner was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 150 hours of unpaid work, £1000 in costs to Royal Mail, a victim surcharge of £85, and a suspended destruction order was placed on the dog.

Dave Joyce, national health and safety officer, Communication Workers' Union, said: "Dog attacks remain a major safety hazard and concern for postmen and women across the UK and the scale of the problem shouldn’t be underestimated.

"I have written to the DEFRA Secretary of State George Eustice calling for a meeting to discuss what more the government and police can do to toughen up the dog control laws – such is my concern.

"The key objectives are to primarily remind the public to be aware of their legal and moral responsibilities to control their pets and prevent dog attacks on postal workers - and secondly is a message to our Postmen and Women to be vigilant, keep safe and take no risks."

Tips for dog owners

Royal Mail has shared some ideas to help your postman deliver your post in safety:

• Ensure your dog is out of the way before the postman or postwoman arrives. Place your pet in the back garden or a faraway room.
• Never open the door when your dog is behind you
• If you have a back garden, please close off the access, in case your dog could get around to the front when the postman or postwoman calls.
• Dog attacks can happen when you’ve opened the door to sign for an item. Please keep your dog in another room before answering the door and make sure children don’t open the door, as dogs can push by them and attack.
• Give your dog some food or a toy to occupy them while your mail is being delivered
• Wait 10 minutes after your mail has arrived to let your pet back into your hallway. Keep everything as calm and low-key as possible.
• If your dog likes to attack your mail, consider installing a wire letter receptacle. It will protect your post, and your postman’s or postwoman’s fingers
• If it’s not practical for you to keep your dog away from a postman or postwoman delivering your mail, please consider fitting a secure mailbox on the edge of your property.
• Please ensure your dog is microchipped, wearing a collar and tag, and that your contact details on the tag and microchip are up to date.

Do you have a dog story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.