OSHA has inspected US Postal Service 4 times in Massachusetts since 1984.
The latest one began on Apr 3, 2023 after a complaint, in Boston.
Those inspections ended with 3 citation items: 1 serious and 2 other-than-serious.
Penalties were first proposed at $38,250 and now stand at $20,525, 46% lower after settlements or reviews.
Forklifts and other powered industrial trucks comes up most often in these citations: 2 items under 1910.178.
How that compares: the median penalty per cited inspection for transportation and warehousing employers since 2015 is $3,560, and US Postal Service averages $15,625 (1 cited inspection).
US Postal Service also files yearly injury logs with OSHA, summarized below.
It reported 3 severe injuries to OSHA since 2015.
Citation items per year, by inspection date.
Massachusetts · latest 90 days of OSHA records
235employers cited
Get notified the morning OSHA posts each new citation in Massachusetts: the employer, the site address, the rules broken and the penalty.
From the Form 300A summaries employers file with OSHA each year. Rate = recordable cases per 100 full-time workers.
In 2024, the Boston site logged 58 recordable injuries or illnesses among about 1,139 workers: 5.5 per 100 full-time workers, against a median of 6.7 for its industry. Those cases cost 1,117 days away from work.
Site and year
Workers
Cases
Days-away cases
Rate
Industry median
Boston PDC_1441061
Boston · 2024
1,139
58
46
5.5
6.7
Worcester_1388293
Worcester · 2024
241
21
21
8.6
6.7
Log Boston_1558103
Boston · 2024
168
15
15
8.8
6.7
MA-RI_1434693
Boston · 2024
73
4
3
4.0
6.7
Fort Point_1434261
Boston · 2024
89
0
0
0.0
6.7
Boston Uspis_1432876
Boston · 2024
84
2
1
2.7
6.7
John Fitzgerald Kennedy_1368465
Boston · 2024
58
2
1
3.0
6.7
Back Bay_1450369
Boston · 2024
55
10
10
16.2
6.7
Severe injury reports
Employers must report any work-related amputation, in-patient hospitalization or loss of an eye to OSHA within 24 hours. 3 reports on file.
An employee tripped and fell while walking to a collection box, suffering a broken hip.
Dec 30, 2015, Boston: Hospitalization · fractures · leg(s), unspecified
A worker slipped on the icy exterior stairs and fell breaking a leg.
Jan 15, 2015, Boston: Hospitalization · fractures · multiple body parts, n.e.c.
On 1-15-15 at 11:30AM an employee walking down stairway 2 from the third to the second floor fell. The worker has a fractured thoracic spine, a fractured middle finger, a bump on the head, and is having tests on her hip and thigh.
The rules behind these citations
Current text from the Code of Federal Regulations. Some citations were issued under older wording.
(a) Use of mechanical equipment. Where mechanical handling equipment is used, sufficient safe clearances shall be allowed for aisles, at loading docks, through doorways and wherever turns or passage must be made. Aisles and passageways shall be kept clear and in good repair, with no obstruction across or in aisles that could create a hazard. Permanent aisles and passageways shall be appropriately marked.
29 CFR 1910.178 · Forklifts and other powered industrial trucks
29 CFR 1910.178(l)(4)(ii)(b)
(B) The operator has been involved in an accident or near-miss incident;
29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7)
(7) Industrial trucks shall be examined before being placed in service, and shall not be placed in service if the examination shows any condition adversely affecting the safety of the vehicle. Such examination shall be made at least daily.
Alert subscribers get notified of each newly cited employer in Massachusetts the morning it is posted. See the alert plans.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA enforcement data. A citation is OSHA's allegation; employers can contest it, and the status column shows where each item stands. Something wrong on this page? Tell us.
