From the National Assoc. of Letter Carriers – 3.19.15

The following Mandatory Safety Talk was provided to the NALC. National business agents have been asked to distribute the information to all branch contacts and to follow up to make sure that the mandatory talks are in fact given. Please advise NALC Director of Safety and Health Manuel L. Peralta Jr. of any problems.

Mandatory Stand-Up Talk
March 17, 2015
Employee safety paramount following suspicious letter report

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Postal Service was made aware of a suspicious parcel addressed to the President of the United States (POTUS).

Upon opening the package a sealed container containing a liquid was discovered. On-site testing resulted in a presumptive positive finding for cyanide.  Further analysis to confirm or refute this preliminary finding now is being conducted in a specially equipped laboratory.

The container was not leaking upon discovery; and the envelope showed no signs that any leakage had occurred previously.

The absence of any signs of leakage is reassuring – indicating that no postal employees were exposed while the envelope passed through the mail system.

If anyone were exposed to enough cyanide to produce adverse health effects, symptoms would be evident within minutes or hours.  Symptoms could be minor (e.g., dizziness and headache) or serious (e.g.,  convulsions and loss of consciousness).

Additional information about Cyanide is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.

In light of these events, we urge everyone to stay vigilant and remember our PACKAGE, PEOPLE, PLAN suspicious mail message:

• PACKAGE: Don’t handle suspicious mail. Isolate it.
• PEOPLE: Clear people from the area. Immediately notify your supervisor.
• PLAN: Contact the Inspection Service. Follow our facility emergency plan.

More details are available on the Suspicious Mail poster, which are on our bulletin boards. (Insert your facility’s location of board displaying Poster 286.)

We know this is a challenging time. If you wish to speak to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) counselor, you can call 800?EAP-4-YOU, or TTY for the hearing impaired, 877-492-7341.

Our top concern at this moment is your safety and the safety of all our employees, as well as the safety of the public and the U.S. Mail. As the detailed laboratory testing proceeds, we will keep you updated.

Thank you for your attention.

Click here to download the stand-up talk document as a PDF.