The postmaster of Lead-Deadwood, SD, Laura Uhrig, has determined that injuries sustained by her letter carriers in Lead and Deadwood is reason enough to change over 700 of her postal customers delivery modes to cluster boxes.
Will this move start a trend by USPS across the nation? If postal employees sustaining injuries is found to be an acceptable excuse to change customers home/business delivery to cluster boxes then USPS just might jump all over that one.
Why would I say that? Because if you take a close look at the injuries sustained by postal employees across the nation during the course of performing their duties you’ll find that USPS leads the federal government in injuries and illnesses attributed to performing their work/duties – in fact, federal records tells us that of all the injuries/illnesses reported over the past several years by federal employees about 39.5% were by employees of USPS. Review the statistics below.
The following statistics pertain to injuries and illnesses related to employees of the federal government and postal service. These stats were reported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA.GOV).
Note: USPS employees count excludes PRC
2008
TOTAL INJURIES/ILLNESSES REPORTED: 115,232 [includes USPS and Federal employees]
2008 – U. S. Postal Service- Employees: 748,135 – Injuries and Illnesses: 48,847
2008 – Federal Government (Excludes U.S. Postal Service)
Employees: 1,967,186 – Injuries and Illnesses: 66,385
COMPARISON:
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 42%
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to Federal employees: 58%
Source: OSHA – https://www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fap-inj-ill-stats.html
2009
TOTAL INJURIES/ILLNESSES: 108,723 [includes USPS and Federal]
2009 – U. S. Postal Service – Employees: 717,311 – Injuries and Illnesses: 42,956
2009 – Federal Government (Excludes U.S. Postal Service) – Employees: 2,045,142 – Injuries and Illnesses: 65,767
COMPARISON:
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 39%
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to Federal employees: 60%
Source: OSHA – https://www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fap-inj-ill-stats.html
2010
TOTAL INJURIES/ILLNESSES: 108,587 [includes USPS and Federal]
2010 – U. S. Postal Service – Employees: 593,850 – Injuries and Illnesses: 40,588
2010 – Federal Government (Excludes U.S. Postal Service) – Employees: 2,210,356 – Injuries and Illnesses: 67,996
COMPARISON:
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 37%
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to Federal employees: 63%
Source: OSHA – https://www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fap-inj-ill-stats.html
2011
TOTAL INJURIES/ILLNESSES: 102,821 [includes USPS and Federal]
2011 – U. S. Postal Service – Employees: 637,920 – Injuries and Illnesses: 40,448
2011 – Federal Government (Excludes U.S. Postal Service) – Employees: 2,243,192 – Injuries and Illnesses: 62,373
COMPARISON:
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 39%
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to Federal employees: 61%
Source: OSHA – https://www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fap-inj-ill-stats.html
2012
TOTAL INJURIES/ILLNESSES: 97,238 [includes USPS and Federal]
2012 – U. S. Postal Service – Employees: 607,814 – Injuries and Illnesses: 38,206
2012 – Federal Government (Excludes U.S. Postal Service) – Employees: 2,222,184 – Injuries and Illnesses: 59,032
COMPARISON:
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 39%
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to Federal employees: 61%
Source: OSHA – https://www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fap-inj-ill-stats.html
2013
TOTAL INJURIES/ILLNESSES: 94,052 [includes USPS and Federal]
2013 – U. S. Postal Service – Employees: 587,713 – Injuries and Illnesses: 38,847
2013 – Federal Government (Excludes U.S. Postal Service) – Employees: 2,199,193 – Injuries and Illnesses: 55,205
COMPARISON:
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 41%
Percent of total federal/postal injuries attributed to Federal employees: 59%
Source: OSHA – https://www.osha.gov/dep/fap/fap-inj-ill-stats.html
SUMMARY OF REPORTED USPS INJURIES/ILLNESSES
[percentages are in comparison to all federal/postal employee injuries/illnesses]
2008 – USPS Injuries-Illnesses: 48,847 – % of federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 42%
2009 – USPS Injuries-Illnesses: 42,956 – % of federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 39%
2010 – USPS Injuries-Illnesses: 40,588 – % of federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 37%
2011 – USPS Injuries-Illnesses: 40,448 – % of federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 39%
2012 – USPS Injuries-Illnesses: 38,206 – % of federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 39%
2013 – USPS Injuries-Illnesses: 38,847 – % of federal/postal injuries attributed to USPS employees: 41%
SUMMARY – NUMBER OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES BY YEAR
[totals reported by the Dept. of Health and Human Service – CDC]
2008 – 748,135
2009 – 717,311
2010 – 593,850
2011 – 637,920
2012 – 607,814
2013 – 587,713
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Health Statistics
Issue date: May 2014
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus13.pdf#112
National health expenditures (in billions):
Year 2005: $2,030.5
Year 2010: $2,600.0
Year 2011: $2,700.7
National health expenditures – Per capita amount, in dollars
Year 2005: $6,875
Year 2010: $8,417 [increase of approximately 22.5% compared to 2005 cost]
Year 2011: $8,680 [increase of approximately 26% compared to 2005 cost]
What does the stats above tells us?
- The vast majority of injuries and illnesses sustained by federal employees are attributed to postal employees – this fact has been true for a very long time. I do not see this changing unless USPS succeeds in changing all customers modes of delivery to cluster boxes.
- Recently the cost of USPS workers’ compensation has been discussed [see Old Cases, Not Recent Injuries, Are Driving Up USPS’s Workers’ Comp Costs]. USPS spokesperson Darlene Casey says “A majority of the workers’ compensation costs are attributed to employees who were injured prior to 2008.” However, OSHA records tell us that the number and percentage of postal employees reporting injuries/illnesses has not changed since 2008 – in fact, these numbers have not changed for many years.The cost of workers’ compensation for USPS, the Federal Government, State and City government and private industry have all risen. In fact, between the years 2005 and 2011 health costs increased about 26%. I believe this cost will continue to increase for all concerned.
Working for USPS, especially as a city letter carrier, has always been a demanding job that can take a toll on an employees body…and, in many cases their minds due to the stress associated with their jobs.
If postal employee injury is reason enough to change our postal customers mail delivery to cluster boxes then every route in the USA may soon change to this mode of delivery.
Rick Owens – Owner
Postal Employee Network
www.PostalEmployeeNetwork.com
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