{"id":39037,"date":"2026-02-16T12:30:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=39037"},"modified":"2026-02-16T12:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:30:04","slug":"dol-cites-usps-for-failing-to-provide-running-water-usable-bathroom-at-chesapeake-facility-for-more-than-a-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2026\/02\/16\/dol-cites-usps-for-failing-to-provide-running-water-usable-bathroom-at-chesapeake-facility-for-more-than-a-month\/","title":{"rendered":"DOL cites USPS for failing to provide running water, usable bathroom at Chesapeake facility for more than a month"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Employer<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

U.S. Postal Service<\/p>\n

1103 Godwin Ave.<\/p>\n

Chesapeake, Virginia 23324<\/p>\n

Citations Issued<\/strong>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One serious violation and one repeat violation<\/a><\/p>\n

Investigative Findings<\/strong>: The U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s\u00a0Occupational Safety and Health Administration<\/a>\u00a0opened an inspection at the U.S. Postal Service\u2019s Chesapeake facility on Aug. 30, 2022, responding to an allegation that the employer did not provide potable water to the facility or an operating bathroom.<\/p>\n

OSHA inspectors learned the Postal Service \u00a0had not paid\u00a0 water and sanitation bills dating back to February 2022, which resulted in late payment fees. In July 2022, the water supply was shut off for non-payment and was not returned to service until the day after OSHA\u2019s \u00a0inspection. Inspectors determined the facility made an \u00a0employee work there without running water or a usable bathroom for more than a month.<\/p>\n

Proposed penalties:<\/strong>\u00a0$13,840<\/p>\n

Quote:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cEmployers must ensure a safe and healthful workplace by making sure workers have access to water for drinking and sanitation,\u201d explained OSHA Area Director Brian Rizzo in Norfolk, Virginia. \u201cU.S. Postal Service management responsible for this facility should have acted more quickly to protect employee health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Background<\/strong>:\u00a0The USPS has 15 business days from\u00a0receipt of its citations\u00a0and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA\u2019s area director, or contest the findings before the independent\u00a0Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Agency<\/strong><\/div>\n
Occupational Safety & Health Administration<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Date<\/div>\n

February 7, 2023<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
Release Number<\/div>\n

23-221-PHI<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
PEN<\/strong>: Also see – Postal employee worked without a bathroom or water after USPS didn\u2019t pay bills, feds say<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Employer: U.S. Postal Service 1103 Godwin Ave. Chesapeake, Virginia 23324 Citations Issued:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One serious violation and one repeat violation Investigative Findings: The U.S. Department of Labor\u2019s\u00a0Occupational Safety and Health Administration\u00a0opened an inspection at the U.S. Postal Service\u2019s Chesapeake facility on Aug. 30, 2022, responding to an allegation that the employer did not provide potable water to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-usps-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39037","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=39037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39038,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39037\/revisions\/39038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}