OSHA proposes $77K in fines for Indy U.S. Postal Service

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found U.S. Postal Service workers didn’t properly address hazards from a crumbling parking structure that was falling on its workers.

According to a release, USPS presented a plan to OSHA in August 2014, which explained the measures intended to protect workers on the mail sorting floor from concrete that was crumbling from the second story parking lot.

In December 2015, OSHA received a complaint which said the employer had not corrected the safety hazards properly.

The investigation found at U.S. Postal Service, 125 West South Street:

• Employees were unprotected and had chunks of concrete debris falling from the ceiling above them
• USPS failed to provide netting or scaffolding
• The USPS failed to provide hard hats to employees exposed to overhead falling concrete debris

“Continuing to allow workers to be exposed to the hazards of falling concrete without following through on an actionable plan to eliminate hazards is unacceptable,” said Vanessa Martin, OSHA’s area director in Indianapolis. “The employees of this facility deserve to be protected from injury on the job.”

OSHA proposed $77,000 in fines.