Health and safety concerns surround the humble letterbox. Photo / Northern Advocate
Hundreds of homeowners are being warned to sort out their letterboxes - or face a new version of blackmail.
Some are being told to loosen springs on their letterbox flaps to make it easier for posties to deliver the mail, while others are being urged to move their
boxes to safer locations altogether.
One resident told the Herald on Sunday he was stunned to receive a letter from NZ Post advising him to loosen the springs on his letterbox flap because the postie couldn't deliver the mail without taking both hands off his handlebars.
"I thought it was a joke," he said.
But NZ Post isn't laughing about what it describes as a health and safety crackdown.
"They [spring loaded flaps] are quite blimming vicious," says NZ Post spokeswoman Fiona Mayo.
"Danger lurks in a letterbox. There's a big focus on health and safety and dangerous letterboxes and letterbox positions."
Some posties had suffered injuries from spring-loaded flaps, including one whose finger was cut to the bone.
Others had suffered sprains, strains and slips because of poorly located boxes, such as those on slippery driveways.
The resident who received a warning letter said he was told the mail would stop being delivered within a fortnight if the springs weren't loosened.
He was told he would have to pick up his letters from a mail centre instead. "They [NZ Post] were basically blackmailing you, which they're apparently entitled to do."
But Mayo said once the issue was explained, most people understood the company's concerns.
Mail packages were getting bigger, making it sometimes difficult for posties to handle boxes with spring-loaded flaps.
"It's making sure your mail can get into your letterbox... and we would recommend they have a decent-sized slot with a lock at the back."
