OSHA, the U.S. Postal Service, and the American Postal Workers Union reached a settlement that organizations believe will improve safety in all postal facilities across the country. The settlement follows negotiations stemming from inspections at 42 Postal Service sites from 2009 and 2010 that found violations of OSHA standards on electrical work practices. After USPS contested the citations, OSHA sought USPS-wide relief before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
“As a large employer, with a substantial number of affected employees throughout many different types of facilities, the U.S. Postal Service faced many challenges in improving their electrical safe-work program,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “In entering this agreement, OSHA recognizes the Postal Service’s commitment and dedication to worker safety.”
As part of the settlement, USPS has revised its written policies and procedures on electrical work, prohibiting workers from working on electrically energized equipment except for a defined set of tasks that can only be performed while equipment is energized, such as troubleshooting and testing. USPA has agreed to assign a trained electrical work plan coordinator at each facility, to ensure compliance with the new policies, and promised to provide and require the use of electrically protective gloves and full body arc flash protection for energized work.
“Employee safety has always been a top priority for the Postal Service,” said Jeffrey Williamson, USPS chief human resources officer and executive vice president. “We are happy to have resolved this issue amicably and in the best interests of the safety of our employees.”
Moving forward, USPS plans to retrain employees on the OSHA requirements and will audit the implementation of the electrical safe-work program at all maintenance-capable facilities and report results in detail to OSHA every quarter during the two-year term of the agreement.
OSHA will monitor the Postal Service’s progress toward abatement and evaluate their progress against negotiated milestones.