Background

Every year, U.S. Postal Service employees risk illness and injury while working in extreme hot or cold temperatures. Mail carriers, especially, experience daily weather challenges and when exposed to extreme heat may be at risk of heat stress. Heat stress can result in heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, or heat rashes. Employees can also face cold stress while performing their daily duties in cold environments, which can potentially lead to frostbite or hypothermia. Employers must take steps to prevent illnesses, injuries, or fatalities by controlling these hazards in workplaces impacted by extreme temperatures.

What We Did

Our objective was to assess the Postal Service’s safety programs, policies, and procedures for extreme hot and cold temperatures, and applicable controls for training records. We conducted site visits at 12 judgmentally selected facilities and interviewed district human resources personnel, facility managers, and carriers to understand the Postal Service’s safety programs, policies, and procedures for extreme hot and cold temperature conditions. In addition, we compared the supplies the Postal Service provided to its carriers to several other agencies and mailing companies.

What We Found

The Postal Service established cold weather awareness training and a Heat Illness Prevention Program (Heat Program) to educate and help protect carriers from adverse weather related injuries and illnesses. To protect the carriers during extreme hot and cold temperatures, we determined the Postal Service provided more supplies to its carriers compared to the other agencies and mailing companies. However, while we did not find any issues with the cold weather training, we found opportunities exist for the Postal Service to improve the Heat Program. Specifically, we found Heat Program training was not always certified or presented correctly in group settings. In addition, we found weekly safety talks were not always documented to show carriers were provided heat safety-related information. Also, Heat Program safety material was not always posted or available to carriers to promote safety awareness.

Recommendations and Management’s Comments

We made five recommendations to address the opportunities to improve the Heat Program identified in the report. Postal Service management agreed with four recommendations and disagreed with one. Management’s comments and our evaluation are at the end of each finding and recommendation. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General considers management’s comments responsive to all recommendations and the corrective actions should resolve the issues identified in the report.