A federal workplace safety inspection of a U.S. Postal Service location in Pennsylvania found employees exposed to potentially serious and fatal injuries in the event of an emergency.
Responding to a complaint, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated an investigation at the USPS’s Lehigh Valley Processing and Distribution Center. OSHA determined the facility failed to keep exit routes free and unobstructed at two of the sorting hub’s loading dock areas and cited the USPS with one willful violation.
Investigators also found portable fire extinguishers were not readily accessible and there was inadequate workspace in front of the electrical equipment. OSHA issued two repeat citations related to these workplace violations, as the agency cited the location for the same hazards in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Los Angeles, California.