THE US Postal Service has issued a helpful advisory – telling workers how to walk.
The new directive comes after a letter carrier tripped on grass and struck his head.
“Watch your step while on the job,” USPS pleaded in today’s advisory.
“The Postal Service is urging employees to be aware of their surroundings, even when doing something as simple as walking.”
It explained that accidents can be prevented while out delivering mail to Americans.
USPS asked letter carriers to remain “vigilant.”
They’ve been told to wear decent shoes with good grip, particularly after rainfall.
Tricky areas likely to cause trips and falls include uneven surfaces, loose gravel, and grass patches, it added.
A brief case study shared the painful experience of one worker who recently tripped onto the ground.
He had been carrying out a routine delivery, but stumbled while returning to his vehicle after dropping off a package.
“The employee said he lost his footing on a patch of grass growing between stones in the customer’s driveway,” according to USPS.
“The employee struck his head on the ground and injured his left wrist.”
It’s now issued 4 tips to help protect delivery personnel from suffering a similar fate.
“Wear proper footwear with slip-resistant soles,” the advisory said.
It also recommended workers to ask homeowners to keep their properties “hazard-free” to avoid nasty falls and injuries.
The advisory follows a National Library of Medicine report that said more than 1.5 million federal and postal service workers claimed compensation from 2007 to 2022.
“From 2007 to 2019, falls, slips, trips represented the highest proportion of claims (30.7%),” it revealed in 2024.
This was “followed by overexertion and bodily reaction (24.4%)… violence and other injuries by persons or animals (8.8%), transportation incidents (4.0%), exposure to harmful substances or environments (2.5%), and fires and explosions (0.24%).”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires the U.S. Postal Service to record information about every work-related injury or illness that involves medical treatment beyond first aid, days away from work, or death.
USPS‘s data showed that most injuries which occurred from 2009 through 2012 on mail delivery routes were caused by falls and dog bites, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
“Falls to the ground were among the most common circumstances leading to injury that resulted in either restricted work activity or days away from work,” it added.