OSHA fines Postal Service $80,000 for violations in Duluth

By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has levied $80,000 in fines against the U.S. Postal Service for safety violations at a Duluth facility.

OSHA spokesman Michael Wald said Wednesday the fine was steep because inspectors found five repeat violations at the 500-employee North Metro Processing and Distribution Center on Boggs Road.

“We’ve been out there four times in two years,” Wald said. “When you go out, you should never find what you found the first time.”

Postal Service spokesmen were contacted but did not comment on the action. The Postal Service has 15 business days from the receipt of citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA or appeal to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The repeat violations involve safeguards to prevent the accidental startup of machinery; storing material in front of an electrical and circuit breaker panel; having unused openings on electrical boxes; using flexible cords instead of fixed wiring and missing the electrical strain prevention clamp on dock lights.

Those violations netted $75,000 in fines. OSHA also fined the Postal Service $5,000 for what it called “serious violations” for failing to mark exits visibly and having broken dock lights that exposed electrical wiring.

Wald said inspectors went to the Duluth facility most recently because of a complaint, but made other visits to see if fixes had been made. He didn’t know if any injuries had occurred, though “all these issues had the potential for injury.”

Wald noted OSHA can fine the Postal Service because it’s not a federal agency. Federal agencies can be cited but not fined, he said.