OIG Issues Report On USPS Health and Safety Program

An audit report conducted by the Postal Service’s Inspector General’s Office (OIG) on the USPS Health and Safety Program, released Nov. 14, is limited in both scope and depth and is thus of little value in assessing the agency’s overall efforts to promote a safe workplace, the union has determined.

The report should not be viewed as a comprehensive audit of the Postal Service’s safety program but rather as an unfocused snap shot of the Postal Service’s application of a piece of its safety program.

Based on the identification of numerous hazards and problems found by study, in such a small sampling of the overall USPS safety program the report can only be viewed as evidence that many more unsafe conditions would be discovered by the OIG if it were to perform a more comprehensive audit.

The OIG did not consult national union officials for their views and expertise, and it overlooked a broad range of electrical and automation related hazards at USPS facilities.