HAZMAT

Hazardous materials (HAZMAT) that are improperly accepted, handled, and transported represent a significant threat. Employees in customer service units are the "first line of defense" for hazardous materials entering the mailstream.

Over the past weeks, Delivery and Retail has issued to customer service facilities a copy of the Postal ServiceTM standard operating procedures (SOP) for the handling and processing of HAZMAT for customer service distribution clerks and mail handlers.

The SOP serves to assist employees responsible for customer service distribution activities during the handling, processing, and transporting of mail containing, or believed to contain, HAZMAT. By following the SOP, employees will continue to keep the mail safe by screening the mail at its entry points and by ensuring that only properly prepared mailable items get through.

The detailed instructions are designed to:

• Provide a safer workplace for our employees.

• Safeguard the general public.

• Maintain the reliability and security of the mail by increasing employee awareness and understanding of HAZMAT in the mailstream.

The instructions apply to properly prepared mailable HAZMAT and to nonmailable HAZMAT and packages displaying nonmailable markings or labels.

For additional copies of the SOP, contact your supervisor. The SOP is also available online on the Aviation Mail Security/HAZMAT Web site:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov/nom/logistics.

• Under "Logistics & Processing" in the left-hand column, click on Aviation Mail Security/HAZMAT.

• Under "Policies and Procedures," click on HAZMAT SOP for Customer Service Unit.

— Aviation Mail Security,
Network Operations Management, 10-13-05