Cape Town – Forget working on construction sites or as an undersea welder, statistically you're more likely to get injured on the job while working as a postman.
A total of 22 South African postmen were bitten by dogs while delivering mail to more than 1.2 million addresses in the Western Cape alone, between April 2016 and March 2017.
SA Post Office spokesperson Martie Gilchrist said the number was up from 19 bites in the previous financial year and "the most bites - four -occurred in Mitchell’s Plain".
“Other areas include Belhar, Dassenberg, Matroosfontein, Retreat, Langebaan, Constantia, Bredasdorp, Strandfontein, Worcester, Gansbaai, Gatesville and Stellenbosch.
“We have 673 postmen in the Western Cape and 88% of them have bicycles and they deliver eight million mail items a month to 1 279 213 addresses. Our postmen walk/ride 25 433 km a day,” said Gilchrist.
Other injuries sustained by postmen include bicycle incidents, motorbike incidents, injuries inflicted by a third party and 10 injuries were reportedly related to unspecified factors, the latest survey found.
She said all dog bite injuries are treated at a medical facility and are reported to the Labour Department and claims are submitted to the Compensation Fund.
Last Friday was the World Day for Safety and Health at Work which the Labour Department used to campaign for improvement in the collection and use of reliable health and safety data.
The Labour Department’s chief inspector Tibor Szana said a “comprehensive report on the state of occupational health and safety in South Africa” covering the last two financial years is due to be released later this year.
About R2 billion worth of claims are lodged annually with the department’s Compensation Fund for occupational injuries and diseases, Szana said.