Team Says 'Safety is No Accident'

South Florida Safety Task Force 

By Joan Collins

It has been over a year since the inception of the USPS/NALC joint safety task force for the South Florida region.   The team is comprised of Postmasters from Palm City to Miami, as well as Letter Carriers from West Palm Beach to Miami.  Our goals are to increase safety awareness and to expedite the correction of any infractions we may find.

Our group meets monthly, along with the manager of safety, Barbara Crowley, to visit stations throughout South Florida.  We chose stations that had the highest rate of vehicle and industrial accidents first, in order to see if we could correct any problems.

We have been very successful in many of the stations we have visited.  With the help of Eddrest Young, a carrier in Aventura, we were able to address the issue of roosting birds in the Aventura office.  Most have been eliminated.  We have also been to the Miami Beach Main Office and were instrumental in getting the bicycles fixed for their bicycle routes that were in deplorable condition.

We also visited the Oakland Park Branch and were influential in resolving their rat problem, as well as, addressing overcrowding in areas where the cases were too crowded.  Cases were moved, thus eliminating congestion and safety issues with carrier hampers.

All in all, we have identified and corrected issues that, if not addressed, could have led to fines in excess of $330,785 being levied against the Postal Service by OSHA.

We have adopted the slogan, “Safety is no accident... together we can make a difference.”  Working together in the office and on the street to develop and practice safe working habits can only lead us home each day to our loved ones the same way we came in..... safe and healthy!