Sametha Mitchell-Kelly, a Kinston, NC, letter carrier and a member of a joint USPS-NALC safety task force, gives bottled water and safety materials to Ronnie Griffin, a Morehead City, NC, letter carrier.
USPS News Link – 7/18/19 – The Postal Service is working to protect employees this summer.
Across the nation, managers and supervisors are delivering stand-up talks on avoiding heat-related illnesses, including heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
Managers and supervisors are also continuing to remind employees of the importance of drinking plenty of water to keep themselves properly hydrated — efforts that are supported by local safety teams and task forces.
For example, in Capital Metro Area’s Mid-Carolinas District, the local safety office and members of a USPS-National Association of Letter Carriers task force recently visited carriers who were delivering mail to provide them with bottled water and to remind them to work safely.
“Staying hydrated is important,” said Kinston, NC, Letter Carrier Sametha Mitchell-Kelly, a task force member.
“We have to reach out to every carrier — especially our newly hired employees — and make sure they’re aware of the dangers caused by high temperatures and humidity. Keeping hydrated is a carrier’s best defense against the summer heat.”
A widespread heat wave is expected to affect two-thirds of the nation through the weekend, with high temperatures in the forecast for much of the central and eastern United States.
In addition to staying hydrated, USPS advises employees to take other measures to protect themselves, including wearing light-colored, loose-fitting and breathable clothing and using shaded areas to stay cool.
Postal leaders say it’s critical that every employee know the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses so that they can get medical attention if needed.
Ronnie Griffin, a Morehead City, NC, letter carrier, said it’s important for employees to follow the organization’s safety guidance.
“When you’re outside six or seven hours a day, you have to take precautions like drinking plenty of fluids and parking in the shade — anything to help stay cooler on a hot day,” he said.
Unrealistic!! We can report heat illness to the supervisor and they tell us we’re lying then when carriers die from heat exhaustion they blame the carriers. The post office take no responsibility for there actions and don’t care about there employees.
‘Safety talk’ basically consisted of a reminder to drink water as an end all solution to the heat and reiterate the fact that the USPS does not have to provide anyone with A/C, but you damn well better get the mail delivered on our brain fart timeline.
USPS-NALC Task Force. Another program where a lazy carrier who can’t do the job makes a name for themselves. The same carriers who are out going office to office changing people’s routes except for their own route while representing that disgusting NALC.
Oh yeah, be safe when you are in a 120 degree LLV for 8 plus hours . Being pressured to do
10 hours of work in 8 hours. Just a CYA program.