Posted By Karen Todd Extract from Postal Services Act 2000: 84. - (1) A person commits an offence if, without reasonable excuse, he- (a) intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, or (b) intentionally opens a mail-bag. (2) Subsections (2) to (5) of section 83 apply to subsection (1) above as they apply to subsection (1) of that section. (3) A person commits an offence if, intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him. (4) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 83 (so far as they relate to the opening of postal packets) apply to subsection (3) above as they apply to subsection (1) of that section. (5) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1) or (3) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both. Karen

Posted By Allan St.John Holt Aside from the Postal Services Act (which I don't believe covers the instance you give except indirectly) I think the real issue is confidentiality. Back to the Human Rights Act. There may be many reasons why people have their private mail on occasions delivered to their work address, and in my view compulsory opening of this would be an infringement of the right to confidentiality UNLESS the employer had previously given notice of the policy and advised all employees that this would happen. Employers therefore need to be very aware of the consequences of following this practice. There may well be good reasons why it is in place, but you would need the consent of the employees to avoid a breach of the HRA here, I think. Allan

Posted By steve e ashton I would suggest the 'need' for confidentiality is less than the 'need' for a company to be certain a: that no 'contaminated' mail is being received (mail room anthrax scares) - easier to decontaminate the mail room than to decontaminate the whole establishment? [And mail room operatives are cheaper to replace than managers .....slightly tongue in cheek here....] b: that no explosive devices are being distributed through the companies internal mail delivery service - X Ray machines are fallible. (Many people could be 'at risk', and not always the most obvious politicians / police / defence contractors etc. Ex-employees with a grudge can go to extreme lengths to 'get even'...) and c: to ensure the company address is not being used for illegal purposes - eg importing narcotics, pornography etc etc... where the company may be held liable for conniving at or or aiding the offence unless effective measures are in place to prevent it... I have worked for five organisation where incoming mail has always been opened. I have therefore always believed it is a normal practice, and wouldn't dream of offering my work address to anyone who may need to send me anything genuinely 'private and confidential'. Not sure if this helps at all.... Steve

Posted By Robin B Q Does the receptionist open mail for the CEO? Robin

Posted By Phil.D.Baptiste What about the Data Protection Act...or...if the mail contains personal info....eg. the possiblity of embarrasing conditions on sick notes.

Posted By Ann Hacon Hi - depending on the layout of the reception area and how mail is distributed, isn't there the potential for other members of staff and even members of the public to see the contents of private and confidential mail too? Obviously there are wider business issues in terms of confidentiality but what about any posted incident reports, other medical interventions (external Occupational Health), job applications. There seems to be the potential for a number of Data Protection issues. Many thanks

Posted By Masendu M We are an organisation that is in the power generating industry and we have an overhead crane that is rated at 130 tonnes. This crane has been out of service for over 10 years and we want to use it for an upcoming power station extension project. The crane has been inspected and we now need to confirm that it can dynamically carry the approved load. is there anyway of safely doing this test without having to look for an actual load to carry. What are other safety methods are required to carryout the tests.