Background:
In 2003, OSHA, the United States Postal Service (USPS), the American Postal
Workers Union, and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union formed the USPS Partnership. The overall
goal of the Partnership is to reduce Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) among USPS' more than 700,000
employees at its 675 mail processing facilities and more than 38,000 retail sites. To achieve this
goal, the partners used an Ergonomic Risk Reduction Process (ERRP) which is designed to help identify
ergonomic risk factors and eliminate or reduce those risks.
In March 2001, prior to the Partnership, USPS' Albany, New York Processing and Distribution Center
was tested as a pilot site. During this pilot, the ERRP was used. The preliminary results showed the
ergonomics risk reduction model could reduce musculoskeletal disorders and workers' compensation
costs when USPS labor, management, and OSHA worked as a team to reduce and/or eliminate potential
risk factors at the numerous worksites. The USPS is also engaged in a Voluntary Protection Programs
(VPP) initiative which also promotes labor, management, and government cooperation and safety and
health excellence.
Success Impact:
Promoting a Safe and Healthy Culture
Once the Partnership started, USPS embedded a full-time ergonomist at each participating site to
train the site coordinator from kickoff through implementation (60 – 90 day period). The ergonomist
conveyed ergonomic process knowledge to the Core Team or ERRP city/territory teams, as well as USPS
and union leadership through training and hands-on job analysis. The ergonomist also performed
evaluations for the verification of abilities necessary to continue the process, demonstrating the
ERRP site's or district's capacity to be self-sustaining. By bringing management, unions and
employees together to cooperatively identify potential hazards and ergonomic health risks, USPS -
through this Partnership – is transforming their workplace safety and health ergonomic program into
a model for both the public and private sector. The OSHA Area Office Director provided guidance
throughout the Partnership and attended several of the Joint Labor Management Safety and Health
committee meetings.
Reduction in Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) Recordable Rate
at ERRP sites
ERRP sites in the process for the first three years of the Partnership have experienced the most
dramatic results:
- 38% reduction in the MSD Recordable rate
- 40% reduction in Handling & Lifting rate
ERRP sites are experiencing greater success than non-ERRP sites:
- MSD rates are 35% less in ERRP sites
- Handling & Lifting rates are 18% less in ERRP sites
- $1.8 million savings in workers' compensation medical costs (a 39% reduction)
- More than 77,000 employees have been trained
- Nearly 7,000 ergonomic task analyses have been conducted and 3,600 fixes have been implemented.
Other Benefits of Good Ergonomic Practices
The Partnership has experienced many other benefits of good ergonomic practices. For example,
supervisors and employees are now working together to resolve problems - resulting in a better
trained workforce and development of individual responsibility for job improvements. Some of the
other benefits include:
- Improved communication and organizational skills of the ERRP team members,
- Follow-up on employee suggestions,
- USPS, Labor and OSHA resolving issues as partners for better employee health,
- Management and union leadership working together,
- ERRP teams provide input on equipment layout,
- Better morale and evidence that the Postal Service cares about its employees,
- Improved mail flow, and
- Low cost improvements.
Partnership Objectives:
As a result of the USPS being such a large organization, management felt that
it was important for the objectives of the Partnership to remain narrow in scope. Therefore, the goals
of the Partnership were focused on identifying ergonomic risk factors and eliminating or reducing those
risks. In order to achieve these goals, employees were taught ergonomic identification and resolution
skills. Self-sustaining site core teams were developed to combine the talents of management, unions, and
individual craft employees to reduce and/or eliminate potential risk factors.
Origin: National Office
Partners: OSHA, United States Postal Service, and United State Postal Service Unions
Partnership Signed: April 2003 / Renewed July 2006
Industry: Post Office - Federal (NAICS Code 492110, SIC Code 4210)
Employees: 14,196
Employers: 10+
Source and Date: Larry Liberatore/Al Woodson, OSHA National Office via PRNewswire-USNewswire
Online / June 2007
Status: Open
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