U.S. Postal Service Cited for Repeat, Serious Violations

U.S. Postal Service Cited for Repeat, Serious Violations

The mail carrier is also facing about $350k in proposed penalties following inspections at three Tennessee facilities.

  • By Alex Saurman
  • Jan 27, 2023

Inspections at three U.S. Postal Service facilities have resulted in citations for multiple violations for the mail carrier.

According to a news release, OSHA inspections at the Knoxville Processing and Distribution Center, the Music City Annex in Nashville and the Columbia Post Office, all in Tennessee, revealed a mail processing machine with no guard, “overloaded circuits” and spaces containing “raw sewage” due to “[b]acked up sewers.”

OSHA also found issues relating to forklifts and their use. Operators didn’t use seatbelts, and some workers required to use the forklifts didn’t have training, OSHA said. In addition, they “lacked working strobe lights and back up alarms, while other forklifts needing repairs remained in service.”

In total, the U.S. Postal Service, which had 516,636 postal employees in 2021, received citations for five repeat, four serious and four other-than-serious violations from OSHA and proposed penalties of $350,136.

"The U.S. Postal Service's high operational tempo is not a reason to bypass or ignore long-established safety standards. If anything, it's a reason to place greater emphasis on ensuring its workers are protected from recognized hazards and have every opportunity to avoid potential life-altering injuries," said OSHA Area Director William Cochran in Nashville, Tennessee in the news release. "These violations are preventable and continuing to operate in this manner, while ignoring safety requirements, is a recipe for disaster."

Per the news release, "The employer has contested the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission."

About the Author

Alex Saurman is a former Content Editor for Occupational Health & Safety,who has since joined OH&S’s client services team. She continues to work closely with OH&S’s editorial team and contributes to the magazine.

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