Management’s Responsibility to Provide Safe Working Conditions

“It is the responsibility of management to provide safe working conditions and to develop a safe working force.” That is the first line of Article 14, Safety and Health, in our collective bargaining agreement. Unfortunately, recently, we have all been reminded how dangerous working at the U.S. Postal Service can be.

In early November 2025, an APWU-represented Maintenance Craft employee was killed when he was pulled into a machine that he was assigned to do a mail sweep on. I do not know all the facts about what happened, but the APWU immediately deployed qualified regional safety and health representatives to assist the local in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and USPS investigations. Your union are active participants in the investigation. At the time of this writing, no reports have been issued. What we know is disturbing – he was working alone and was not discovered until hours after his shift ended.

Management must be held accountable when they do not adhere to Article 14. Safety grievances are not going to give you a big payout. The reward for enforcing safety rules, policies, and the tenets of Article 14 is much greater—being able to go home at the end of your shift unharmed and alive.

Article 14 has strong language on safety, but so do USPS handbooks and manuals. Chapter 8 of the “Employee and Labor Relations Manual” (ELM) talks about safety and can be enforced with grievances. “EL-801”, “EL-802”, and “EL-814” are some examples of the handbooks that outline USPS safety policies and procedures.

 Machine guards and lock-out/tag-out procedures exist for a reason. Management must be held accountable if they do not require machine guards to be in place when the machine is running, nor require employees to lockout/ tag-out a machine when it is being worked on. The consequences have been deadly.

You have the right to freely report safety deficiencies in your facilities, and I encourage you to do so with a PS-Form 1767. Management is required to make them readily available freely and anonymously, meaning you should not be required to ask for one. They should not be locked in the supervisor’s office. A copy is available on the APWU website—but it is not the APWU’s responsibility to provide it to you; it is management’s responsibility. If they do not have them readily available, you can file a grievance. If they do not follow the process regarding responding to a 1767, you can fi le a grievance. Local unions can request copies of the 1767s filed. If you are in a facility or installation with 50 or more employees, the Postal Service is required to have a Joint Labor-Management Safety and Health Committee, which is required to review the 1767s in their required meetings. Safety cannot be an afterthought.

Safety needs to be at the forefront of all our minds when we work in a dangerous, industrialized environment. The Postal Service has more injuries than nearly all other federal agencies. Historically, more deaths occur due to industrial accidents at the Postal Service than all other federal agencies combined. While it is management’s responsibility to provide you with a safe environment, I encourage all of you to think about safety every day. Follow the rules that are in place, even if it slows down the mail; safety is a priority. You cannot be disciplined for following rules and regulations or reporting safety deficiencies. Will management be angry—probably? But are your life and limbs worth it? I would rather have management angry at me for filling out a 1767 than go home maimed or worse—not going home at all. Your union leaders at all levels will defend your right to work safely and report safety deficiencies.

Always remember the APWU safety motto—Stand Up for Safe Jobs! It’s Every Worker’s Right!

Solidarity!