Members of Congress are calling on the United States Postal Service to implement more stringent workplace protections against heat exposure.
In a Thursday letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, 75 House Democrats urged the Postal Service to “immediately implement” the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings proposed rule, which is not yet finalized.
The lawmakers said while the Postal Service already has a heat illness prevention plan, letter carriers continue to report “systemic heat illness issues even with the HIPP in place.”
The letter says that OSHA inspections have found that the current plan has failed to adequately protect workers.
The congresspeople said that while the Postal Service is not yet required to adopt the OSHA proposed rule because it’s not yet final, there is nothing stopping the agency from “improving on the Postal Service’s current policies to address failings and protect workers.”
“If you decline to implement the standards in the proposed rule as soon as possible, we request that you explain why you will not, given the demonstrable ongoing risk to employees,” the letter states.
