Federal Manager's Daily Report

The Postal Service has a comprehensive workplace violence program to identify, review, report and address assaults on employees, an IG report has said, adding that the USPS appropriately addressed all workplace violence cases in the six districts the auditors reviewed.

It said the Postal Inspection Service investigated 145 cases in those districts in 2013-2014, 60 of which involved postal employees as the assailants, and that management imposed administrative actions, including suspensions and removals, in all 60 cases.

However, it added that Postal Service officials “ did not always record all incidents of workplace violence in the tracking system, effectively use threat teams to review assault outcomes and develop preventive measures, and display all workplace violence posters and publications used to educate employees on identifying and reporting workplace violence incidents in postal facilities.”

Further, the Postal Service could not rely on the tracking system as a central repository for sexual assault data because officials were not always recording that data as required, it said.

“As a result of these conditions, there is an increased risk the Postal Service will not effectively analyze data and identify trends to address workplace violence incidents. Furthermore, without a single accurate source of data in this critical area of employee safety, it is more difficult to determine where problems exist and develop preventive measures,” the report said.