January 2015

Edition 12

ONLINE NEWS

Fine for an unlocked vehicleno

Did you know that in some states, you can actually get fined if you walk away from your car without locking it? You can even get fined if your windows are wound down too far while the car is unattended.

In Queensland and Victoria, for example, the law stipulates that a driver must lock their car if they are more than three metres away from it, and windows must not be wound down more that five centimetres. Failure to do so can result in Police issuing a fine of $40 in Queensland and $117 in Victoria. If the offence goes in front of a magistrate in Vic-toria, the penalty increases to $360.

Insurance Companies usually require that policy holders take reasonable steps to safe-guard and protect their vehicle. This means that if your car is stolen because you left it unlocked, your vehicle insurance claim might be declined. Furthermore, the theft of per-sonal items will usually only be covered if they were taken from a locked vehicle.

Report all Hazards and near misses using the Jotform link……….

Reflective vest Trial Complete

Andy Pham has been working in the online business for over 4 years

and was happy to trial the reflective vest.

The reflective vest succeeded in making Andy visible when complet-

ing night deliveries.

However Andy recommended that the battery power pack be posi-

tioned higher in the vest so not to be an obstruction when carrying

totes.

The light globes protrude from the vest making it uncomfortable

when sitting in the truck.

Another vest design will be sort with Andy’s recommendations in mind.

Exceptional Customer Service.

QLD CSA Kristy Woodgate assisted an elderly customer who fell over on her face during a delivery injuring herself .

Kristy rang for an ambulance and com-forted the patient until help and family members arrived on the scene.

Kristy’s emergency response ensured quick evaluation and medical assistance. Well Done Kristy.

Did you Know!

How many trucks are re-quired to service the Woolworths Online Cus-tomers needs during the Xmas period?

NSW 175 ACT 13

VIC 80 SA 24

QLD 90 NT 7

PHOTOS WANTED– Send hazard, near miss and incident photos to your supervisors via the JOTFORM link.

HOW TO DEAL WITH IRATE CUSTOMERS Anyone who has worked in customer service certainly has a fair share of stories concerning irate or confrontational customers. While you may not be able ease the fury of some customers, there are things you can do to diffuse such situations. You'd be surprised at how simply chang-ing your attitude can change a heated situation into a man-ageable one.

1. Calm yourself. You can't control how this other person is acting, but you can control your actions. Having two irate people makes the situation worse.

2.Be patient. Give the customer a chance to explain the problem, and listen to the details to help you determine what went wrong and what can be done to correct the issue. Don't interrupt the customer's initial rant. When you do have a chance, first reassure the cus-tomer that you're willing to listen

3. Ask what you can do to help. Letting the customer rage on about how upset she is doesn't solve anything. Don't dwell on what went wrong; find out what path you need to take to resolution. Letting the customer know you're willing to do something to help aids in calming her down

4. Go out of your way. While a remedy for the situation may not be easy, try to show the customer that you're doing everything in your power, whether that means taking some extra time with him or letting him know you will speak to your supervisory

5. Express empathy. Sometimes a cus-tomer just wants to rant and get the anger off his chest. At times like these, just put on a concerned face and listen. Don't express sympathy; instead show empathy. The dif-ference is that you're showing you know what they are talking about and can under-stand their concerns. Just knowing that someone is listening to them makes some irate customers feel better regardless of the outcome of the situation.

CSA prevents driveway slip.

Driver was delivering to an address with a

steep set of stairs that led up to the house.

The stairs were covered in leaves and dead

flowers and it was raining at the time. Driver

was using trolley to take crates up the stairs

and slipped numerous times. CSA avoided

injury by walking with the bags in one hand

so that he was able to hold the stair railing

all the way up to the house .NSW 4/12 CSA

Leon Chimenti

SERIOUS NEAR MISS A Sub-contractors driver had parked his vehicle on the street with a

noticeable incline, in front of the customer’s premises. Driver stated

that he had applied the handbrake. As the driver was at the rear of

the Pantech, he opened the rear door and placed his foot on the

trucks rear step. The vehicle rolled forward approximately 2 metres

without the driver being in control of the vehicle.

WATCH YOUR BACK. CSA had been cut off by another driver on his way to the customer, swerving his vehicle to avoid collision. On arrival at the customer's house, CSA noticed the groceries in the back of his vehicle had moved. CSA over extended to reach for the customer's groceries and felt he had pulled something in his lower back. VIC 23/12/2014

The best way to pre-vent back injuries is to develop habits that reduce the strain placed on the back. There are some basic things you can do to help.

Trouble Parking? If in Doubt get out!

CSA was pulling into a car spot when he miss judged the distance from the kerb. CSA come into contact with the kerb causing a

puncture. The Woolworths Online Vehicle was 3 days old. NSW 9/12

CSA was pulling up to customer address to perform delivery. A large branch was hanging out over the road which the CSA did not notice. The side of the pan connected with the large branch

– the branch has gone through the side of the pan and left a hole (approx. 15cm long & 5cm wide). QLD 15/12 CSA was looking for a parking spot at the front of customers house. Driver decided to park in a spot in front of a red BMW. As driver was pulling in in front of the TP vehicle, he hit the car as he was attempting to park in front of the car, damaging the front quarter panel and damaging the front bumper. NSW 10/12

CSA was turning left from Gibbs street and turned too close to the curb. CSA heard the wheel come in contact with the kerb. CSA then arrived at the next drop and went to check the tyre and noticed that there was damage to the side of the vehicle as well. CSA had come in con-tact with a Branch and had made a dent about 1 metre long and about 0.5cm deep on the left hand side of the vehicle. QLD 27/12 CSA was parked when a 3rd party drove past and came into con-tact with his drivers side mirror, 3rd parties mirror broke while the CSA's mirror was forced back into the drivers side door and caused a small dent NSW 18/12

Managing Stress– Ways to Calm Down

Near Miss—Runaway trolley Driver had his flat bed trolley leaned up against

the back of his truck with a load of totes on it. As

driver went to the cab of his truck to retrieve pa-

perwork, he noticed the trolley had started to roll

down the car park . Driver started to run after the

trolley and stopped it just in time before it had hit

a parked car. No damaged to groceries or car.

Construction site at customers address.

CSA had pulled up in front of customers address and noticed that there were workers in the trees cutting down branches. Tree branches were falling to the floor when driver was about to walk to the front door with the groceries and his trolley. Workers did not stop cutting branches down so driver advised that he wouldn't deliver unless they did. Workers stopped. The CSA asked to wear one of the hard hats so he could deliver without a branch falling on his head as a precautionary measure. Well Done Leon Chimenti

Near Miss-Forklift hit CSA was walking behind a parked truck to en-ter the Wow dock at Casuarina to commence his shift. A fork lift driver went past and nearly hit the CSA as he emerged from behind the parked truck. The forklift driver did not beep horn, check his path or stop once he saw the CSA. The person operating the forklift was a delivery driver delivering goods to Woolworths and using the Woolworths owned forklift. Woolworths management was notified.