{"id":1894,"date":"2011-01-15T07:43:31","date_gmt":"2011-01-15T12:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=1894"},"modified":"2011-01-15T07:43:31","modified_gmt":"2011-01-15T12:43:31","slug":"osha-says-delivery-bar-code-sorters-pose-risk-to-workers-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2011\/01\/15\/osha-says-delivery-bar-code-sorters-pose-risk-to-workers-health\/","title":{"rendered":"OSHA Says Delivery Bar Code Sorters Pose Risk to Workers Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OSHA\"<\/a><\/p>\n

OSHA: DBCS Machines Pose Risk to Workers\u2019 Health
\n<\/strong>Management \u2018Lacks Understanding\u2019 of Risks, Agency Concludes<\/em><\/p>\n

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has hit the Postal Service with another unwelcome finding: Delivery Bar Code Sorter machines pose a direct risk to workers\u2019 health, and there is a \u201cgeneral lack of understanding about the hazards and injuries\u201d associated with the equipment among postal managers.<\/p>\n

In a Jan. 4 letter to the Postmaster General<\/a> [PDF], OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels said the agency had received more than 170 complaints alleging that \u201cinjuries occurred due to worker exposure to ergonomic stressors\u201d associated with DBCS operation at Processing and Distribution Centers nationwide. The complaints were submitted by APWU locals in response to a request from the national union<\/a> after the USPS rebuffed union attempts to correct \u2014 or even discuss \u2014 DBCS hazards.<\/p>\n

In response to the complaints, OSHA selected nine sites for inspection as a representative sample. The inspections and ergonomic evaluation \u201cidentified generally consistent risk factors at most inspected sites,\u201d the majority of which resulted from the repetitive motions required to operate the DBCS, Michaels wrote.<\/p>\n

Hazards included repeated bending and twisting; forceful gripping; lifting heavy weight; shoulder exertions; extended reaches, and forceful pulling and pushing. Other risks included contact trauma, working in awkward postures, and generalized body fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cOSHA\u2019s findings are an important step toward protecting the safety of APWU members,\u201d said Executive Vice President Greg Bell. \u201cOur members have known about the dangers of working on DBCS machines based on their first-hand experience. I am hopeful that OSHA\u2019s involvement will encourage the Postal Service to correct the problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ignorance of Risks<\/p>\n

According to OSHA\u2019s evaluation, \u201calmost all managers assigned to Tour 1 and 3 indicated ignorance of any risks associated with performing DBCS tasks. This severely limits the opportunity for improvement in the workplace since there isn\u2019t a basic knowledge of the hazards or even the process,\u201d OSHA reported. \u201cAdditionally, many of the decision making managers work Tour 2 while almost all production work is done on Tour 1 and 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be very difficult to address problems when management at all levels, especially safety personnel, work a significant portion of the time on the shifts where the majority of the work is not performed.\u201d<\/p>\n

OSHA also reported that supervisors have ignored injury complaints; encouraged clerks to \u201cwork through\u201d the pain, or have discouraged the reporting of injuries. \u201cThis fosters a perceived \u2018lack of caring\u2019 about the worker,\u201d the agency reported.<\/p>\n

OSHA conducted inspections at P&DCs in Seattle, WA; Orlando, FL; Madison, WI; West Columbia, SC; Pittsburgh, PA; Providence, RI; Mankato, MN; Wareham, MA, and Chicago, IL.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all risk factors were identified at every facility at the time of our visit,\u201d Michaels noted, \u201cbut the underlying potential seemed to be present at all sites because of the similarity of equipment and job tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n

OSHA noted that it would provide a copy of the report to each site for which the agency received a complaint regarding DBCS operations, as well as a detailed, site-specific Ergonomic Hazard Alert Letter (EHAL). The report includes guidelines to aid in eliminating or reducing the risks present in the Feeder and Sweeper tasks, Michaels wrote. \u201cWe strongly suggest you utilize the information provided in the technical report and the P&DC site specific EHALs to aid in eliminating or reducing the risks present in the Feeder and Sweeper tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DBCS report was the second dose of bad news the USPS received from OSHA on Jan. 4. The agency also issued the Postal Service 37 citations that day for under-recording workplace injuries and illnesses. In recent months, inspections revealed 242 instances of recordkeeping violations at 10 postal facilities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OSHA: DBCS Machines Pose Risk to Workers\u2019 Health Management \u2018Lacks Understanding\u2019 of Risks, Agency Concludes The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has hit the Postal Service with another unwelcome finding: Delivery Bar Code Sorter machines pose a direct risk to workers\u2019 health, and there is a \u201cgeneral lack of understanding about the hazards and injuries\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1894"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1897,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894\/revisions\/1897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}