Seasonal Safety

Hazards

• FALLING LEAVES: Leaves in the fall are gorgeous, but they can be hazardous when driving and walking. When walking leaves can be slippery in the morning dew or even days after a rain. They can conceal difficult terrain like holes, sticks, and even curbs. Most of us know about front yards with decorations or hoses lying about too, and leaves make all of it a little trickier. When driving, leaves piled up at a curb can make you lose control of your vehicle when slick. I heard of a scary story about piles of leaves at a curb that a kid jumped out of from a letter carrier, so be careful driving around piles of leaves too.

• DARKNESS: Darkness is a contentious bit when it comes to management. While darkness itself isn’t hazardous, compounded with other elements darkness certainly presents a hazard. Consider if you’re standing still in a dark room; no danger there. But what if you’re walking across dozens of lawns in unfamiliar territory covered in leaves a night with only a narrow beam of light to guide you? You bet than can be a hazard, so make efforts when you can, but if it gets too dangerous let someone know!

• MANAGEMENT: There are several organized efforts to undermine our contract and intimidate carriers into running through their routes. Improperly using projection data, threats of unauthorized overtime, stationary events, and outright discipline are just to name a few. This time of year the sun is going down earlier, kids are playing outside more in cooling weather, and parcel deliveries are up! There are no street standards for delivery of mail whether it’s walking from box-to-box, servicing cluster boxes, or delivering curbside. There is more that we’re responsible for now than ever before, and any mistake you make is going to land you some kind of discipline in this managerial climate. Your job is safety, accuracy, and protocol; take the time to make sure you are fulfilling all your obligations to cover your butt and be the professional out there!

• POLITICAL EXTREMISTS: There are many people in the election process that have had their lives and the lives of their families threatened for participating in counting votes, maintaining machines or election software, and more. Regardless of political affiliation, letter carriers have been politicized at the individual level by politicians who aim to discredit the integrity of our work. People are being stirred to act violently very quickly, and we must be aware of our surroundings. If a customer is following you, taunting you, or making you feel unsafe in any way: call someone immediately! Get to a safe place, call 911, call your supervisor, get out of there and let someone know what’s going on. If you are accosted by a political extremist, don’t take any risks by engaging them; we are at a severe disadvantage out there on the street and help may take longer than we’d like to arrive.