In a recent whistleblower lawsuit against USPS, the Department of Labor (DOL) had requested broad “injunctive relief, nationwide in scope, to vindicate the public interest in promoting safe workplaces and protecting those who dare to advocate for them.” The DOL proposed injunction included prohibitions: against taking adverse action against any Postal Service employee on account […]
In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sued the United States Postal Service (USPS) for retaliating against a Safety Specialist at the Seattle, Washington Processing & Distribution Center (P&DC). According to the DOL : OSHA’s investigation determined that the Postal Service followed a pattern of adverse actions against the safety specialist, who was assigned […]
(December 3, 2014) A U.S. Postal Service temporary non-career employee (casual) was terminated after being transported to a medical facility for treatment of a workplace injury. The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit (last month) against the Postal Service on behalf of the employee at the Sharonville facility. The lawsuit seeks restoration of […]
11/20/2014 – Beginning January 1, 2015, there will be a change to what covered employers are required to report to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Employers will now be required to report all work-related fatalities within 8 hours and all in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye within 24 hours of finding about […]
USPS has introduced an online safety dashboard to help prevent workplace accidents and injuries. The dashboard, which is available on Blue, allows employees and supervisors to look up data on accidents. Information can be filtered through several categories and time frames, allowing users to determine trends and identify methods for prevention. The tool also spotlights […]
The U.S. Postal Service didn’t conduct required impact studies on how service would be affected by closing Tucson’s Cherrybell processing center and others across the country. It’s the Postal Service’s own inspector general who said closing 82 facilities around the U.S. could cause service delays and ultimately hurt the USPS brand. Processing of incoming mail […]
In a recent decision, the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission held that the confidentiality provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) supersede OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements. At issue on review is a citation issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to the United States Postal Service regarding two OSHA recordkeeping regulations, 29 […]
On Nov. 23, 2013, 26-year-old Tyson Barnette was shot multiple times while delivering the mail in Landover, Maryland. On Feb. 26, 2013, federal corrections officer Eric Williams was stabbed with a homemade weapon at the high-security Canaan penitentiary in Pennsylvania. In 2013 57 federal employees were killed on the job, according to preliminary data by […]
USPS found to be at fault in Missouri mailman’s heat death in 2012 INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — When a mail carrier died on the job, his wife blamed the Post Office for not taking his concerns about excessive heat seriously. The widow finally has closure two years after his death. All Kay Watzlawick has of her […]
TUCSON, AZ – As new digital technology takes over, the U.S. Postal Service continues shrinking its operations. Since February of last year, the Cherrybell facility has been sending large flat mail items to Phoenix for processing. Now in phase two of consolidation, mail of all sizes, including packages, will make that journey.