OSHA citation alleges failure to protect postal workers from searing summer heat
OSHA proposed a $15,625 fine Wednesday on the U.S. Postal Service after the death of Dallas mail carrier Eugene Gates Jr., who collapsed in June on a day when the heat index reached 113 degrees.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation alleges the postal service failed to protect workers on June 20, the day Gates died, from “the recognized hazard of high outdoor heat including high temperature, high humidity and direct sun exposure.”
The heat index ranged from 96 to 113 degrees and the National Weather Service had issued an Excessive Heat Warning.
“Such exposures are likely to lead to the development of serious heat-related illnesses such as, but not limited to, heat cramps, heat stress, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and death,” according to the citation.
