Due to time constraints, postal managers primarily provided training as a response to accidents rather than at consistent intervals. Image: dennizn/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffPostal Service management is not providing employees with “consistent and relevant safety and health training” while some employees are not undergoing the required refresher training after an accident, an inspector general report has said.
“Additionally, management did not always present safety talks to employees properly or adequately document and maintain records of completed safety talks; did not always ensure employees were trained in first-aid, or service safety equipment such as fire extinguishers and first-aid kits effectively; ensure employees wore proper footwear; and display visual media intended to promote safety awareness,” it says.
Over 2017-2021, it said, there were just under 300,000 industrial accidents at USPS, 70 percent of them involving mail carriers, 10 percent involving other retail and delivery functions and the rest in a catchall “other” category. By type, slips/trips/falls were the most common, followed by ergonomics, animal/insect bites and being struck by an object.
It said that the USPS offers several types of online and in-person safety training and talks on topics such as preventing strains, slips and falls starting with new employee orientation and refresher training afterward. Further, when accidents occur, management is responsible for investigating them and developing plans to address the most common causes.
However, “we found that supervisors did not verify that employees received instruction or completed refresher training after being involved in industrial accidents,” the auditors said. They found for example that of 204 employees who had an “animal encounter” in that period at 12 facilities it studied in detail, only eight had records showing they had completed refresher training. While in some cases management determined that additional training would not have addressed the root causes, documentation supporting that decision was lacking, it said.
In all, among the nearly 1,400 bargaining unit employees at those facilities, there were no records that a third had competed safety and health training over 2019-2021 and only half had received training each year since 2017.
Other issues included that policies don’t set consistent training intervals or patterns and that management “did not emphasize the importance of providing proactive training . . . due to time constraints, they primarily provided training as a response to recent accidents.”
Further, “Management did not always effectively maintain preventive measures to encourage safety awareness and acceptance of safe work practices at the 12 facilities visited. Specifically, safety equipment was not always serviced, we observed employees not wearing proper footwear, and the display of visual media intended to promote safety awareness needed strengthening.”
Auditors also found instances of missing or underserviced fire extinguishers and first-aid kits that “were not always readily available with sufficient supplies.”
It said that management agreed with recommendations to address those issues.
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