The Brisbane Times has picked up on the safety concerns of employees at the Underwood Mail Centre.

On the eve of an AIRC hearing into union objections about the way management has responded to these concerns, the Brisbane Times has detailed the legitimate fears that employees have for their safety.

The full article can be found here:

"Mail powder sparks fear", Brisbane Times, 6 July, 2008

The article contains two extraordinary quotes by Australia Post management.

Before we list the quotes, we invite you to refresh your memory and review their form to date.  Quickly scan your eyes over this item, which we featured last Friday:

"We're proud of our safety record", 4 July, 2008

As you can see, we list eight occasions where local staff were told by management that they would get powder incident training.

But despite this, here's what Australia Post told the public:

"An Australia Post spokeswoman said the centre had a monthly health and safety check."

That quote is then followed up:

"Australia Post staff are well trained in the identification of dangerous goods and suspicious substances and we have very comprehensive emergency procedures in place," he (Australia Post state operations manager William Wilson) said.

The Brisbane Times concludes:

Mr Wilson said Australia Post took the allegations in the emails seriously and would take appropriate action if the claims were substantiated.

Contrast this public comment with the following quote:

"... our investigations indicate that the allegations contained in these emails are all anonymous and our investigations indicate that the allegations contained in these emails are without substance and/or related to matters already dealt with." (Peter Rogan, National Human Resources Manager, Mail and Networks Division, Australia Post (20 June, 2008).

We'll leave you to be the judge.  Let us know if you think that the public commitments match "behind closed doors" performance.