FY2015 Performance Report — OSHA requirements are designed to protect Postal Service and contract employees from safety and health hazards in the workplace. All private and public sector employers are subject to OSHA regulations; however, the Postal Service is the only federal agency that can be assessed penalties and fines for noncompliance. The USPS measures performance on two levels. The first is by establishing a target injury and illness frequency rate and the second is by establishing performance improvements over the prior year. In FY2015, the OSHA I&I frequency rate for the Postal Service as reported to NPA was 6.55 — nearly a 2 percent decrease over the revised actual rate reported for FY2014. The FY2014 performance reported as of September 30, 2014, was 6.34 which was later restated to 6.68 due to employee claims filed after the close of the fiscal year. Although we did not meet our NPA target in FY2015, the Postal Service continues to reduce accidents and improve performance. The failure to meet the actual target rate reflects major changes to the business and a significant increase in new employees who are more at risk for injury.
The decrease in the OSHA I&I rate year over year is due primarily to comprehensive training and communication effort aimed at all employees with a focus on new, at-risk employees. In FY2015, our communication and training campaigns addressed the most frequent hazards of the workplace, such as dog bites, extreme heat, distracted driving and proper lifting and reaching. In addition, we developed an ergonomic strategic plan that outlines goals, objectives and key initiatives for developing and using quantitative tools to measure exposure to musculoskeletal disorder risk factors and ways to change job conditions to reduce the level of exposure — before an injury occurs.
A newly released safety statistical dashboard also provides targeted data to our field leadership that enables them to quickly identify the top causes of accidents at a facility level. This data provides direction for creating a tailored safety program.
FY2016 Performance Plan — In FY2016, the Postal Service will add an additional focus on prevention strategies and a more proactive approach to employee safety. This focus will be on all accidents, regardless of severity or OSHA record-keeping requirements, and will place additional emphasis on employees considered to be at higher risk for accidents. These at-risk employees are those who are new to the organization and less experienced with safe work practices, as well as experienced workers who are facing new challenges. Our safety initiatives for the next year will assist the field in establishing effective accident reduction plans, enlisting the cooperation and support of our employee partners and taking steps to address the increase in motor vehicle accidents. We also will implement programs to acknowledge leaders who demonstrate exceptional commitment to creating a safe work environment.
