Fourth of July Safety
"Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!"
But before you turn the key, always remember: "Safety
first."
Summer fun in the sun is in full swing, and strong emphasis on your safety is vital. Postal ServiceTM employees
and their families will continue to drive great distances for
work and to visit their families and friends. Swimming, boating, off-road driving, barbecuing, and fireworks are popular
activities for the Fourth of July holiday. Whatever your
plans, vigorously pursue and adopt a risk management
plan before you get underway for the holiday celebration.
Exercise forethought and common sense when engaging in any activity. To meet the challenge of this extended
Fourth of July weekend, keep in mind some safety hints to
minimize risks in order to avoid death and injury.
• Driving: Here are some tips for highway trips:
- If you are highway bound, make sure your vehicle
is in excellent operating condition. Always carry a
roadside emergency and first aid kit, and also
remember to bring extra water, especially in hot
climates.
- Put on a safety belt first thing when you get in a
car - it takes only 3 seconds. Putting on a safety
belt is a simple habit and can make all the difference between walking away from a crash and
being carried off on a stretcher.
- Keep children safe. The back seat is the safest
place for children to ride, and use the correct safety equipment to protect all children.
- Don't speed. Speeding reduces a driver's ability to
steer safely around curves or objects in the road.
You never know what's around that next corner: a
deer, stalled car, or pedestrian in the roadway.
- Most importantly, do not drink and drive - and
equally importantly, don't get into a vehicle with a
driver who has been drinking.
• Swimming: Use common sense: swim where lifeguards are present. They are trained to identify
hazards and help you if you get in trouble. Also,
never dive unless you know the water depth and
what obstacles are below. Don't let a bad decision
leave you paralyzed for life.
• Boating: Take a boating course, file a float plan,
never exceed the boat's maximum capacity, wear a
personal flotation device (PFD), keep an eye on the
weather, and save the alcohol for later.
• Off-road driving: Get training before operating a
vehicle or an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) off-road, and
then start out slowly. Knowing the condition and route
you're going to take allows you to alter speed as necessary in areas with limited visibility or poor road
conditions. Maintain proper speed, and wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Barbecue safety: Follow manufacturer's instructions
for lighting and extinguishing gas grills. There is a
right way and a wrong way. Postal Service employees and their families have been severely burned
when gas buildups have led to explosions.
• Fireworks: The best advice: leave them to the professionals. If fireworks are legal in your area and you
decide to light off a few, use caution! Follow the
manufacturer's instructions for use. Careless use of
fireworks can cause serious injury or death.
• Heat: When the heat is on, it may be harder to work
safely. Drink water often. Dress lightly and chose
fabrics that let moisture and heat escape. When
possible, take breaks, move to a cooler area, or
periodically change to lighter work.
Think before you act. Basic precautions for prevention of
mishaps - while in the , on the waterways, on the
ball field, on the highway, and at work - will make this
Fourth of July a safe and happy one, and one that you will
live to talk about.
— Safety Performance Management,
Employee Resource Management, 6-23-05
VEHICLE MAINTENANCE FACILITIES
Safety and Health Inspections
Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) 824,
Safety and Health Inspections, requires safety and health
inspections of Postal ServiceTM installations, including
Vehicle Maintenance Facilities (VMFs).
For VMFs with 100 or more employees, the servicing
safety office must conduct and document the semi-annual
inspections. For VMFs with fewer than 100 employees, the
designated and trained VMF collateral duty facility safety
coordinator (FSC) must conduct and document the annual
inspection.
For both types of VMFs, VMF managers must use inspection checklists to conduct the inspections. You can find
the VMF inspection checklists and inspection instructions
on the Postal Service Intranet:
• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
• Click on Inside USPS.
• Under "Headquarters, Human Resources" click on Safety Resources.
• Click on Safety Checklists.
• For the safety checklist, under "VMF," click on Safety
and health checklists. For the certification letter, click
on Safety and Health Inspection Certification. For
instructions, click on Annual Safety and Health Inspection Letter of Instruction.
VMF managers must:
1. Complete all VMF safety and health inspections and
send the certification to the supporting safety office
by September 5, 2005.
2. Post inspection results (see ELM 824.426).
3. Ensure all deficiencies are timely abated (see
ELM 824.52).
4. Certify completion and abatement of the inspection to
the servicing safety office.
FSCs may use the Safety Toolkit (see instructions below) to enter their inspection findings and generate the
required safety and health inspection report. FSCs should
request access to the Safety Toolkit from their servicing
safety office manager.
Servicing safety office managers must enter the inspection completion dates in the scheduler provided in the
Safety Toolkit available on the Postal Service Intranet:
• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
• Click on Inside USPS. |
• Under "Headquarters, Human
Resources" click on Safety Resources.
• Click on Toolkit Information.
• Login to the Toolkit Web site.
• Click on Inspections-New.
Servicing safety office managers must
also provide support to the managers in abating hazards as needed.
For technical and programmatic assistance,
VMF managers should contact their servicing safety office.
— Safety Performance Management,
Employee Resource Management, 6-23-05
REVISED PUBLICATION
Publication 552, Manager's Guide to Understanding Sexual Harassment
Publication 552, Manager's Guide to Understanding
Sexual Harassment, has been revised. This guide provides
the legal principles that define sexual harassment and the
specific information on what management employees
should do when acts that can be construed as sexual harassment occur.
Management employees should follow the Initial
Management Inquiry Process when they become aware of
inappropriate conduct or sexually harassing behavior or
when responding to complaints.
Publication 552 will be mailed to all nonbargaining employee work locations before the end of June. We will
publish ordering information in Postal Bulletin 22158
(7-7-05) after the publication is stocked and available at the
Material Distribution Center.
— Headquarters and Field Programs,
Employee Development and Diversity, 6-23-05
PUBLICATION 71 REVISION
Family and Medical Leave Act Information Update
Effective May 2005, Publication 71, Notice for
Employees Requesting Leave for Conditions Covered by
the Family and Medical Leave Act, is revised to clarify criteria for returning to work. Specific conditions for return to
duty have been deleted from page 4 of the publication.
You can order the revised Publication 71 from the Material Distribution Center (MDC) and use touch tone order
entry (TTOE): Call 800-332-0317, option 2.
Note: You must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call
800-332-0317, option 1, extension 2925, and follow the
prompts to leave a message. (Wait 48 hours after registering before placing your first order.)
All copies of the previous version of this publication
should be discarded/replaced.
Use the following information to order Publication 71:
PSIN: PUB 71
PSN: 7610-03-000-9441
Unit of Measure: Each
Minimum Order Quantity: 50
Quick Pick Number: 440
Bulk Pack Quantity: 2,000
Price: $0.0449
— Compensation,
Employee Resource Management, 6-23-05
NOTICE
Safety and Health Inspections - Level 20-26 Offices
Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) 824.33,
PC Installations with Less Than One Hundred Workyears,
requires an annual safety and health inspection of main
facilities, subordinate stations, and branches. Installation
heads (IHs) in facilities without full-time safety personnel, or
their management designees, act as the collateral duty facility safety coordinators (FSCs) (ELM 813.32, Collateral
Duty Facility Safety Coordinator).
In offices with fewer than 100 employees, the FSC
should lead the inspection (ELM 824.422, Inspection
Rules). In offices with 100 or more employees in the main
facility, the servicing safety office should conduct the inspection. However, the IH must ensure that subordinate
stations and branches with fewer than 100 employees
conduct their inspections.
You can find the inspection checklists and inspection instructions on the Postal ServiceTM Intranet:
• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.
• Click on the Inside USPS tab.
• Under Headquarters/Human Resources, click on Safety Resources.
• Click on Safety Checklists.
• For the safety checklist, under Level 20-26, click on Safety and health checklists. For the certification
letter, click on Safety and Health Inspection
Certification. For instructions, click on Annual Safety
and Health Inspection Letter of Instruction.
Add the Safety Checklists Web page under your favorites for quick access.
Note: Because the inspection checklists and instructions are available online, Headquarters does not
provide these documents by mail.
The postmasters/IHs, or their designees, must:
1. Complete a safety and health inspection using the
checklist within 30 days of the date of this Postal
Bulletin.
2. Post the inspection.
3. Ensure abatement of all deficiencies in accordance
with the instructions.
4. Certify completion of the inspection to the servicing
safety office.
— Safety Performance Management,
Employee Resource Management, 6-23-05 |
