The United States Postal Service® is sponsoring its first National Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention Week, a public service campaign that offers safety tips and emphasizes the need for increased owner responsibility to help prevent carrier injuries.
From painted porches to neglected icy surfaces, hazardous conditions on customer property pose serious threats to Postal Service™ employees. To emphasize the enormity of this issue, USPS® reported 18,684 Postal Service employees experienced a slip, trip, or fall last year.
The tips available in this article can promote awareness of this issue and help reduce the number of carrier injuries in local communities.
Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention
Last year, most slip, trip, and fall incidents involved mail carriers. More than half resulted in at least one day away from work.
How Carriers Can Avoid a Slip, Trip, or Fall
n Wear proper footwear. Keep your feet warm and dry. Choose high-traction, slip-resistant footwear.
n Stay away from slippery surfaces. Avoid wet leaves or icy areas whenever possible. Shorten your steps and shuffle your feet w hen near slippery surfaces. You are not required to risk personal injury from icy steps.
n Be alert. Finger mail only when it is safe to do so. Always remain focused, alert, and ready to react to the conditions in front of you.
n Use handrails or other stable supports, when available. Holding on to something keeps you steady when ascending and descending stairs or entering and exiting vehicles. Keep one hand on the handrail or grab bar, so you can catch yourself if you start to slip.
n Report hazards. Be diligent about examining your path for hazards. Use PS Form 1767, Report of Hazard, Unsafe Condition or Practice, to report a hazard to your supervisor. Alert replacement carriers to any hazardous conditions by completing PS Form 1766, Hazard Warning Card.
How Customers Can Prevent a Slip, Trip, or Fall Injury
n Clear the way. Keep the carrier path clear of obstacles like leaves, ice, and snow. Make sure doors and porches used by mail carriers are cleared of hazards.
n Maintain the carrier path. Repair cracks and fill in holes. Repair, paint yellow, or block access to unstable or uneven walking surfaces.
n Avoid startling carriers. Keep animals away from the delivery path.
n Make painted porches skid-proof. Install non-skid strips or add sand to the paint to provide traction.
For more information and resources to help prevent slip, trip, and fall incidents, visit safetytoolkit.usps.gov:12/slipstripsfalls.aspx. Contact your local Corporate Communications representative for the Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention Week Publicity Kit and related information, such as:
n Press release,
n Letter to the editor,
n Postmaster outreach/coloring page for students, and
n A map of incidents by state (see below).
Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention Week Poster
Map with Accident Data
Slip, Trip, and Fall Incidents by State
Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention Tips for Mail Carriers
Make an effort every day to:
n Maintain good housekeeping.
n Wear proper footwear.
n Report unsafe conditions to your supervisor or manager.
n Take messages on your Mobile Delivery Device (MDD) seriously.
Stay alert at all times:
n Observe the area carefully.
n Stay alert to avoid being startled.
n Avoid distractions. Never finger mail when changing surface types, going up and down stairs, and entering or exiting vehicles.
Be aware of common places that falls occur:
n Changing surface types.
n Stairs.
n Cracks in sidewalks, driveways, or roads.
If you start to fall, these tips will help:
n Relax, as tensing your body is more likely to cause injury.
n If holding an object, drop it.
n Do not try to break your fall with an outstretched hand, elbow, or knee.
Use these preventative measures:
n Wear proper footwear.
n Maintain good posture to improve balance.
n Scan the area ahead:
n Avoid patchy snow or ice when possible.
n Avoid wet leaves and mud slicks.
n Look for cracks and gaps that signal uneven surfaces.
n Do not carry items you cannot see over.
n Use handrails when available.
n Finger mail only when safe to do so.
n Use caution when mounting and dismounting vehicles.
n Withhold delivery if ice or snow covered steps prevent safe access. Notify supervisor or manager of mail withheld due to ice or snow.
n Keep in mind most injuries on stairs occur on the way down.
n Report hazards to your supervisor.
Slip, Trip, and Fall Prevention Tips for Mail Customers
On an average day, 51 United States Postal Service mail carriers will experience a fall while working. The Postal Service reports that last year, 18,684 carriers experienced a fall at work. With deliveries every day, including all seasons and weather conditions, carriers continue to experience falls in urban, suburban, and rural settings.
Most falls are preventable. To ensure mail carriers’ safety, the Postal Service requests that all residents and business owners identify and correct hazards on their properties.
Here are four simple tips to prevent slips, trips, and falls by mail carriers and others on private property year round:
1. Inspect the path.
Walk the path your carrier takes along your property to identify hazards. This may be an entrance you use less often, and you may not realize there is a hazard present. Replace doormats that roll up along the edges, and use rubber-backed mats to prevent them from sliding. Ensure there is adequate lighting along the walking path.
2. Repair hazards.
Cracks in steps and porches, loose railing, uneven sidewalk joints, and loose bricks or blocks in the walkway happen over time and water is one of the main culprits. Check drainage slopes and look for pooling areas to help prevent icy spots in the winter. Make repairs as quickly as possible. If you are unable to make the repair, block off the area or add paint to an uneven surface to bring attention to it.
3. Control slippery surfaces.
Leaves, rain, and ice can pose serious fall hazards. Keep leaves off walking paths, use sand in the paint for traction on porches, and clear ice and snow from the path your carrier takes.
4. Stay informed.
Customers with access to postal notification features, such as Informed Delivery® for letter mail and package tracking, are encouraged to use these features to determine if mail is expected that day. If so, make sure a path has been cleared for the carrier to make a safe delivery, even on the weekend.
With your help, we can keep our carriers, your neighbors, and your property safe.
— Safety and OSHA Compliance Programs,
Employee Resource Management, 10-24-19
