2010 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations - USPS.com

Chapter 5: Workforce
April 2009 covering postal nurses represented by the National Postal
Professional Nurses, which is affiliated with the American Postal
Workers Union, AFL-CIO (APWU). Collective bargaining negotiations
with two of the four largest postal unions, the APWU and National
Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), began in September.
Postal Service management and the National Association of
Letter Carriers (NALC) continued joint contract application training
and dispute resolution process support by delivering training
to 80 management and NALC representatives responsible for
addressing and resolving disputes locally. Training has helped
reduce disputes and improve working relationships. Also, a
jointly developed intervention process identifies and resolves the
root causes of disputes at the lowest level possible. The widely
implemented process is helping build more cooperative and
productive labor-management relationships.
As discussed in Chapter 3, postal management and the NALC
negotiated a Joint Alternate Route Adjustment Process in April. The
agreement provides a process for reevaluating and adjusting delivery
routes that either party determines needs to be evaluated.
Quality of Work Life provides opportunities for mail handlers and
supervisors to become fully involved in the identification and
resolution of workplace inefficiencies. The Postal Service and the
National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) co-hosted the twelfth
annual Quality of Work Life Conference. Approximately 18 quality
circles shared their ideas and more than 21 displayed models of
their solutions. Thirty-nine quality circles were recognized for their
outstanding projects and performances.
Consultation With Management Associations
As prescribed by law, program consultation was conducted
throughout the year with the national officers and representatives
of the National League of Postmasters, the National Association
of Postmasters of the United States, and the National Association
of Postal Supervisors. This presented an opportunity for the
associations to participate directly in the planning, development, and
implementation of initiatives and policies affecting approximately
50,000 managerial employees.
Workplace Environment
Safety
INJURY AND ILLNESS
Deployment of the new Employee Health and Safety (EHS)
management system was completed this year to automate reporting
and management of accidents, injuries, and illnesses. EHS is
integrated into the Human Capital Enterprise System. It is accessible
to all managers and supervisors to enter information directly into a
Web-based system and send the information electronically to safety
personnel. Once accident information is received, EHS provides
injury case management tools to health and resource management
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specialists for more efficient management of caseloads. The
system’s fast, efficient handling of claims replaces paper processes.
SAFETY FIRST
The Postal Service’s safety record continues to improve annually.
This year the OSHA injury and illness frequency rate of 5.49 per
100 employees is a 2.35 percent improvement over last year and
equates to 2,876 fewer employee injuries and illnesses.
These outstanding results are due to employee and management
commitment to safety through a variety of efforts that include risk
analysis, training, and employee awareness efforts, including “Safety
Depends on Me.” Employee feedback is a vital component of these
efforts, and is used to ensure that training content is relevant and
effective. An example is this year’s implementation of an electrical
work plan for maintenance, which improves work methods and
requires that employees be provided with the appropriate protective
equipment to safely perform electrical work. Adoption of the plan
included training of over 20,000 employees.
The Performance Evaluation Guide audit process is used to evaluate
those safety programs that are required by OSHA to have a written
set of rules and processes and to pursue any necessary corrective
actions. Thorough risk analyses of accident and injury reports and
claims information were performed using the centralized data in EHS.
The Postal Service’s motor vehicle accident frequency rate was
9.10 per million miles — a slight (1.9 percent) increase over last
year. To foster save driving, drivers are screened, trained and
tested under the Safe Driver Program. The Postal Service also is a
member of the National Safety Council and participates in the Safe
Driver Award Program. Since 2005, when records were established,
5,858 postal professionals have driven more than a million miles
without a single accident.